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Doc Rivers. Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Five replacements for Doc Rivers on ESPN broadcasts

By Sean Keane | Last updated 1/23/24

Doc Rivers is expected to take the Milwaukee Bucks head coach job, which leaves a vacancy in his old job as part of ESPN's top NBA broadcast team. Here are five replacements for Rivers' spot alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke.

1. J.J. Redick

Redick is part of the network's second broadcast team, alongside Richard Jefferson and Ryan Ruocco. That's a new group for this season, but one that ESPN is planning to make their lead broadcast team in the future. If ESPN is willing to break that team up, at least for the rest of the season, Redick would be the obvious choice to get bumped up.

While his career continued until 2021, Redick became the first active NBA player with a podcast in 2016. In 2020, he launched his own media company, centered around his podcast "The Old Man and the Three," which is the No. 40 sports podcast on Apple Podcasts and has over 320 million views on YouTube. Redick has also been unafraid to confront other ESPN personalities, including Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins.

ESPN may prefer to keep the Ruocco-Jefferson-Redick trio intact, but Redick is their most popular in-house replacement.

2. Hubie Brown

At 89, Hubie Brown is not likely to be a long-term replacement for Doc Rivers. But to be honest, hiring Rivers in the first place didn't seem like a long-term decision either, as the former coach seemed eager to return to the bench after the Philadelphia 76ers fired him last May.

What does Brown have going for him? Simply put, he's the best. The Hall of Famer was a head coach in the ABA and NBA for 15 seasons, winning an ABA title and two NBA Coach of the Year awards. He's also had a long career as a broadcaster, where he's both insightful and funny. There's probably not a living person who knows more about basketball than Brown.

He also has experience working with Mike Breen, with whom he announced the NBA Finals in 2005 and 2006. Currently splitting time with Bob Myers on ESPN's third team, Brown could slide seamlessly into the Breen-Burke team.

3. Jeff Teague

As far as we can tell, Jeff Teague has never announced an NBA game. But there's no former NBA player who tells funnier stories than Teague, who has become a viral sensation with some of the tales from his "Club 520" podcast.

Like the inside account of Jimmy Butler's notorious return to a Minnesota Timberwolves practice in the middle of a dispute with the team. (Warning: The below clip contains adult language.)

With veteran professionals Breen and Burke on hand, ESPN could nurture Teague's burgeoning talent. Teague would be a delightful bonus, tossing in stories and nuggets of NBA wisdom. They'd be getting in on the ground floor of what could be an incredibly media career for Teague.

4. Mark Jackson

It's hard to imagine that ESPN could go back to either of Breen's old partners after the high-profile dismissals of Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson last summer. There were clearly hurt feelings after the decision to let the longtime broadcast partners go after nearly two decades, with Breen telling the New York Post he was "sad and stunned."

But should they give Breen one of his buddies back, Jackson is familiar with joining a broadcast team late in the season. After the Golden State Warriors fired Jackson during the 2014 playoffs, he rejoined Breen and Van Gundy for the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals that year.

And if the hard feelings can be soothed and the money is right, we may hear Jackson say, "Mama, there goes that man ... back to the announcer's table."

5. Nobody

Let's be honest. You don't need three people on an NBA broadcast crew. TNT usually goes with duos: Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller, Brian Anderson and Stan Van Gundy or Anderson with Ian Eagle. Mike Breen could easily do the entire telecast by himself, while Burke is an entertaining and insightful color commentator.

In ESPN's three-man booths, the extra person often just leads to annoying cross-talk, like when Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy would ignore multiple possessions to argue about some esoteric Van Gundy complaint.

Perhaps ESPN wants to create a "First Take" atmosphere in their telecasts, but most viewers would prefer that the game announcers actually describe the game they're watching.

If ESPN really wants the best possible telecast, their best move — and easiest move — would be to hand the reins to Burke and Breen and not bother with a third person.

If you've got a superstar NBA player, you want to give him the ball as much as possible. If you have a superstar announcer like Breen, you want to give him the mic.

The best Doc Rivers replacement is no replacement at all.

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