Throughout the NBA Playoffs, ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen has been behind the microphone for several signature moments as teams square off in a quest to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Breen, who is part of the lead announcing team for the NBA on ESPN, works alongside analysts Doris Burke and JJ Redick and sideline reporter Lisa Salters for a majority of the contests. The team was recently on the call for the New York Knicks’ Game 3 matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night and documented a clutch three-point shot from Andrew Nembhard that turned out to be a game-winning basket.

Breen called the sequence with a sense of excitement and anticipation in his voice, trying to be objective despite also serving as the Knicks television play-by-play announcer during the regular season on MSG Networks. Dan Le Batard referred to Breen as a “pillar of professionalism,” but asserted that there was some legitimate disappointment as he narrated the moment that sealed the game for the Pacers.

“I believe his heart was totally broken in that spot and he was trying to conceal it,” Le Batard said. “Because this is a lovable Knicks team and how can he not be emotional, but he tries not to be biased; he tries to be objective and it’s a human illusion.”

Indiana continued its momentum during Game 4 on Sunday to even the series at two games a side heading back to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Breen discussed the series within his appearance on Monday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, but he also met with an accusation from Le Batard about being biased and corrupt. Breen was incredulous as to why Le Batard would do such a thing so early in the morning, explaining that he turned on the Zoom call and immediately heard the phrase “guttural bang” from Le Batard. The show then replayed the call, leading Breen to cover his ears.

“Why are you covering your ears?,” Le Batard asked. “Are you like Gene Hackman? [He] couldn’t watch himself act. He wouldn’t watch his own movies. You can’t listen to yourself call a game?”

“No, you get sick of hearing the screaming fool,” Breen replied. “I’ve heard it already.”

Le Batard asked Breen to rank where the call of Nembhard’s game-deciding three-point basket would rank in being able to conjure the setting and magnitude of the moment. Breen outlined that he does not rank his calls but evinces that if one makes such a difference in a playoff game, it is likely high on the list.

“You know at the end of a great playoff game, the last two minutes [is] one of the most magical things in sports – a close playoff game in the last two minutes,” Breen said. “That game felt like the entire second half was played under those circumstances, so for then [Jalen] Brunson to go hit that big shot in a game that he had struggled, and then for Nembhard to come down and the most unlikeliest guy in a possession that was about to fall apart, it’s the surprise of the moment.”

Breen has a genuine adoration for the game of basketball and attributed his excitement to being a fan of the sport. Le Batard conveyed that it is clear Breen enjoys the games, but the fact that he roots for the Knicks is also palpable. Nonetheless, he has rarely been criticized in the national broadcasting space for being biased, prompting Le Batard to ask how he keeps a sense of objectivity.

“I try my very best when I put the headset on – and there’s so many things that are going on – that you have to do your job not just for you, but for your partners; for everybody in the truck to do a professional job,” Breen said. “So you just have to, and I’ve done it over the years. I haven’t done it a lot in recent years because the Knicks haven’t been in these kind of big playoff positions in recent years, but it’s a matter of concentration, making sure that you give that particular play the proper call that it deserves.”

Reflecting back on the play-by-play call, Breen is cognizant of the fact that some Knicks fans may not be content with him pertaining to the situation. He hopes that they are able to understand that he is just trying to do his job and effectuate a stellar national presentation. Nonetheless, it is something that announcers who broadcast both at the regional and national levels have had to face over the years.

“Every announcer goes through this, especially in the postseason when fans’ emotions are high, and they should be high and they should be fired up for their team that they always think that you’re rooting for the other team,” Breen said. “It happens every single postseason. This one is just a little different because I’m the regular-season announcer for the Knicks.”

Over his time at ESPN, Mike Greenberg has hosted a variety of different programming and read different advertisements and sponsorships. Whether it be Get Up on television in the morning or #Greeny thereafter on ESPN Radio, segments usually implement some kind of sponsored element part of the overall business proposition in sports media. Greenberg recently hosted ESPN’s coverage of the 2024 NFL Draft for the fourth consecutive year, which was presented by EGO, an outdoor power tools company owned by Chevron.

Throughout the broadcast, Greenberg reiterated the presenting sponsor for the broadcast and executed his responsibilities. EGO, however, happens to be a homonym and can, at times, have a negative connotation when referring to an individual. During a recent appearance on The Ryen Russillo Podcast, Greenberg was asked how he felt comfortable enough to continue saying that coverage was presented by EGO.

“Listen, I’ve been telling the world that I’m presented by something for a very long time,” Greenberg said. “I actually said this to somebody – everybody has their own claim to fame. I think it’s possible that I have read more sponsorships than any other person in the United States in the last 25 years. I think that’s a real possibility – four hours a day on Mike & Mike – now four hours a day when you combine the TV and the radio.”

Russillo concurred with this point, affirming that it likely was not close in that Greenberg has this distinction. From there, he recalled a story about filling in on Mike & Mike and being handed a stack of papers that the producers of the show referred to as the rundown. When Russillo discovered that all of the documents contained advertising reads, he was somewhat incredulous that it was considered to be the rundown for the show.

The producers explained that it was what Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic did during the show and would figure out the segments. Russillo remembers messing up an advertising read for 5-hour Energy by reading the phrase “No guardrails” that was listed on the paper. The program listened to the clip back several times off the air and laughed over the years as well; however, Russillo was coerced to apologize for it on the air.

“Whenever anyone would do the show when I wasn’t there, the running joke was always, ‘How was the other person?,’ [and it was], ‘He did the reads,’” Greenberg said. “If you did the reads, then nothing that terrible happened. At the end of the day, did someone say Progressive? Did we say it? Did we say it six times? If so, then yeah, sure, but did we talk about basketball? I don’t know, but we definitely got the reads in and that’s, at the end of the day, that’s the most important part of the job.”

With Greenberg’s years of hosting experience and aptitude in the space, Russillo was impressed with how he handled his job during the ESPN coverage of the NFL Draft. In fact, he made an observation while watching on television that he communicated to Greenberg before moving the conversation to the New York Knicks and the team’s run in the NBA Playoffs.

“I watched it and you brought everybody in,” Russillo said, “and I could just sense, I think in the way only people that are on the air can sense, you were like, ‘This is absurd that I’m saying I’m presented or we are presented by EGO,’ so you left a little pause in there for the companies, which I thought was brilliant because of how long you’ve been doing this.”

Over the last several days, a feud has been escalating between ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe and TNT Sports analyst Shaquille O’Neal that stemmed from the results of the 2024 NBA MVP vote. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić won the award for the third time in his career and took part in a live interview with Inside the NBA, in which O’Neal told him that he believed the award should have gone to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander instead. This led to Sharpe discussing why O’Neal would divulge that opinion during an interview on a recent edition of the Nightcap podcast with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.

Part of his rationalization was that O’Neal was jealous that he is never mentioned in conversations about being the greatest basketball player of all time. Sharpe then stated that if O’Neal had his work ethic, he would have had 40,000 points in his NBA career. O’Neal won one MVP award during his 19-year NBA career and was named a member of the All-Star team 15 times. Moreover, he is a four-time NBA champion and three-time NBA Finals MVP, widely regarded as one of the most dominant centers to ever play the sport.

“Shaq should have five MVPs,” Sharpe said. “He sees a guy like Nikola Jokić that’s not as dominant as him and gets three in four years, but see when you historically great, they talk about you as great basketball player, – the G.O.A.T. – and Shaq is never brought up, and I think a part of him is envious of that.”

In a post on Instagram that featured an image of Sharpe being ranked No. 51 among the top 100 characters in NFL history, O’Neal took umbrage towards what had been said about him. Additionally, he stated that he should be greeted as “the most dominant ever” and that Sharpe did not have his qualifications. Sharpe, who played in the National Football League for 14 seasons with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens, is a Hall of Fame tight end, four-time All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champion. He is reportedly on the verge of signing a multi-year contract extension with ESPN that will continue his Monday and Tuesday appearances on First Take.

“I know you tryna stay relevant by gossipping on your podcast,” O’Neal said. “We don’t believe you. You need more people and in case you forgot. 4 rings three finals Mvp top 50 and top 75. google me. and to b quite frank all this new success you got, you still under me. u don’t kno my work ethic. but according i work less than you but im worth more than you. make it make sense. love you too. if you need help making money it’s better ways than gossiping.”

Sharpe responded to what O’Neal said on Thursday’s edition of Nightcap by explaining that he got everything out of his natural talents. Furthermore, he explained that he was not as good at football as O’Neal was at basketball. Sharpe then asked O’Neal if he believed that he gave everything that he possibly could have in basketball. If the answer to this question was ‘No,’ Sharpe believes it underscores just how great O’Neal was in that he still won NBA championships and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“Did the train the way you should have? Did you eat the way you should have? That just goes to show you how great you was is that you didn’t,” Sharpe said. “You allowed your weight to get out of control, the injuries started to creep up and you got four rings and you got three Finals MVPs.”

On Friday afternoon, O’Neal released a diss track towards Shannon Sharpe in which he criticized his opinions towards the entire situation. O’Neal had previously released diss tracks targeted towards then-Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, precipitated by Lillard saying he was a better rapper than O’Neal. Upon sharing the diss track to his Instagram page, O’Neal said that he was “done with this.”

“but remember #noweqponformedagainstmeshallprosper #buffalosoldier #omegapsiphi,” O’Neal said within his post. “you can never break the UNBreakable. and to all the people that kno both of us don’t call me, it will never be a sit down. #loveyall.”