Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, an hour-and-a-half before his team was set to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, opened his pre-game news conference by offering support for ESPN analyst Doris Burke.
A New York Times report from Wednesday, June 4 indicated that ESPN was evaluating the future of the network’s No. 1 NBA team — namely Burke and fellow analyst Richard Jefferson — after the Finals.
“She has changed the game for women in broadcasting,” Carlisle said Thursday, June 5, of Burke. “I have a daughter who just turned 21, who is in her second year at (the University of Virginia). She’s not in the basketball industry, but Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there.
“It was just so sad to see these reports leaked, really unnecessarily before such a celebrated event. Doris is a friend. I’ve asked her many times why she doesn’t get into coaching; she has such great knowledge.”
Carlisle added that Burke “paved the way” for women working in the basketball industry and cited a handful of working female broadcasters: Sarak Kustok (YES Network), Lisa Byington (FOX Sports), Kate Scott (NBC Sports Philadelphia), Monica McNutt (MSG Networks), Katy Winge (Altitude TV), Zora Stephenson (NBC Sports), Ann Meyers Drysdale (Phoenix Suns) and Marney Gellner (Bally Sports North).
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with all that stuff,” Carlisle added, alluding to Burke’s future with ESPN. “But I just want to say thank you to Doris for the example that she has put forth for young women like my daughter and all these people who are changing the game.
“She has changed the game. That’s the reason that she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. I just want to say that in support of her.”