Mike Breen Cleared to Return to NBA Finals Broadcast for Warriors-Celtics Game 3
June 8, 2022
ESPN's regular NBA broadcast crew will be back together for Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Per Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Mike Breen has been cleared to return for Wednesday's game between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski is also back on the air for the network.
Breen missed Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, as well as the first two NBA Finals games, after testing positive for COVID-19.
Jeff Van Gundy also missed Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The former New York Knicks head coach was able to return for Game 2 on Sunday.
Mark Jones has served as the lead play-by-play announcer for the first two games of the Celtics-Warriors series. Van Gundy and Mark Jackson will be the color commentators.
For his contributions to the sport across three decades, Breen was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in May 2021. He also received the Curt Gowdy Media Award in 2020.
Breen is generally regarded as one of the best announcers in any sport. His signature "Bang!" call is often perfectly timed, such as when he used it for Ray Allen's game-tying three in the final seconds of the fourth quarter in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat.
On rare instances, Breen will break out a double "Bang!" to emphasize an incredible moment. The two most famous uses of it were for Stephen Curry's game-winning three from 38 feet against the Oklahoma City Thunder in February 2016 and Luka Doncic's overtime walk-off three in Game 4 of the 2020 Western Conference first round against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Breen has been the play-by-play announcer for the Finals since 2006. The 61-year-old is in his 30th season as an NBA broadcaster. He began by calling New York Knicks games on WFAN during the 1992-93 campaign.
The Warriors and Celtics will play Game 3 at TD Garden at 9 p.m. ET.
