Perennial pot-stirrer Jason Whitlock unsurprisingly ripped ESPN’s decision to remove Mark Jackson from its No. 1 NBA broadcast in favor of Doris Burke.
“I absolutely love Doris Burke,” Whitlock said on his show “Fearless.”
“She does a really good job, but she is not qualified to be the No. 1 broadcaster on the NBA.”
The ex-ESPN host has never been shy with his opinion, especially when it comes to his former employer who parted ways with him on two occasions in 2006 and 2015.
He claims the main issue with adding Burke to the mix is her lack of qualifications to criticize NBA players who will inevitably push back against her.
“All of that is out the window. You place a woman in this spot – Doris Burke is good, but if you think she’s woman enough to criticize these multimillionaire NBA players and coaches, it’s not gonna happen,” Whitlock said.
Van Gundy, who spent 25 years as an assistant and head coach in the NBA, was particularly known for his officiating criticism.
Jackson’s accolades range from a former All-Star NBA player to coaching the upstart Golden State Warriors as they were budding into a dynasty.
“When one of those players looks over and glares or tries to intimidate,” Whitlock, who was let go a second time after he failed to launch The Undefeated vertical, asked.
“‘What’d you say? What do you know?’ And again, I know she played a little basketball but not in the NBA.”
Burke has on-court basketball experience from her collegiate days at Providence, where she averaged 12.1 points and 5.3 assists per game.
She graduated as the school’s all-time assists leader and was an All-American in 1987.
Burke’s promotion to the lead announce team alongside Mike Breen should be a change of pace for the broadcast that featured Jackson and former coach Jeff Van Gundy.
“It’s sad because we really thought we had something special and … we were able to do it a lot longer than anybody ever did,” Breen told The Post on Tuesday. “It’s something we’ll all treasure, but we just wish it was a little bit longer.”
The NBA regular season begins Oct. 24.
Source link
#Jason #Whitlock #problem #ESPN #promoting #Doris #Burke