2007, ESPN.com – Jalen Rose Joins ESPN
June 24, 2008
October 25, 2007 — 2007-08 NBA Season on ESPN Begins Oct. 31…
Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy Form Lead Commentary Team
New Pre-Game Studio Teams Including Host Stuart Scott on ESPN and ABC
Jalen Rose and Rick Carlisle Join ESPN
Expanded Role for Dan Shulman
ESPN’s unparalleled multimedia coverage of the 2007-08 NBA season will
open Wednesday, Oct. 31, with a doubleheader including the defending
Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James
hosting the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki at 8 p.m. ET, followed
by the new-look Seattle SuperSonics and the highly-anticipated debut of
rookie Kevin Durant visiting the Denver Nuggets (with Allen Iverson and
Carmelo Anthony) at 10:30 p.m. All of ESPN’s NBA telecasts this season
will be available in high definition.
The opening night telecasts, part of "NBA Tip Off Presented by
Converse," will feature the premiere of new commentator teams with Mike
Breen and analyst Jeff Van Gundy (who worked the 2007 NBA Finals on ABC
with analyst Mark Jackson) providing commentary for the
Mavericks/Cavaliers game and play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and
analyst Hubie Brown working the Sonics/Nuggets contest.
Breen, Jackson and Van Gundy will serve as the lead commentary team for
NBA Sunday games on ABC when the schedule tips off with a Christmas Day
doubleheader – the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade vs. the Cleveland
Cavaliers at 2 p.m., followed by the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant
hosting the Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash at 5:15 p.m.
Tirico or Dan Shulman will regularly pair with Brown throughout the
season on ESPN. Shulman also serves as one of ESPN’s lead college
basketball commentators, calls Wednesday Night Baseball games on ESPN,
and is the voice of ESPN Radio’s season-long Major League Baseball
coverage.
Preceding the doubleheader, ESPN will unveil a new pre-game studio team
of host Stuart Scott and analysts Bill Walton and Stephen A. Smith.
Scott, Walton and Smith will form a regular pre-game commentator lineup
to appear on ESPN’s Kia NBA Shootaround, while Scott, Walton and
Michael Wilbon will appear on the GMC NBA Sunday Countdown pre-game
show throughout the season on ABC. Mark Jones will also host Kia NBA
Shootaround at times throughout the season.
Additional ESPN game commentators include:
Play-by-play: Dave Pasch and Mark Jones
Analysts: Walton and Jon Barry
Reporters: Ric Bucher, Doris Burke, Lisa Salters and Michele Tafoya
"We have a deep roster of NBA commentators who are accomplished
communicators, with keen insights, educated opinions and vast
experience," said Norby Williamson, executive vice president, studio
and remote production. "Our NBA content across ESPN platforms will be
entertaining and informative."
ESPN’s opening week NBA game schedule:
Date/Time(ET)/Teams/Commentators/Network
Wed., Oct. 31
7 p.m.
Kia NBA Shootaround
ESPN, ESPN HD
Stuart Scott, Bill Walton, Stephen A. Smith
8 p.m.
Dallas at Cleveland
ESPN, ESPN HD
Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy
10:30 p.m.
Seattle at Denver
ESPN, ESPN HD
Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown
Fri., Nov. 2
7:30 p.m.
Kia NBA Shootaround
ESPN, ESPN HD
Scott, Walton, Smith
8 p.m.
Washington at Boston
ESPN, ESPN HD
Breen, Van Gundy
10:30 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Phoenix
ESPN, ESPN HD
Shulman, Brown
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio’s commentary teams – Jim Durham with analyst and NBA Hall of
Famer Dr. Jack Ramsey, and Kevin Calabro with analyst Will Perdue –
will call 2007-08 NBA regular-season broadcasts, primarily on Thursdays
and Sundays.
Jalen Rose and Rick Carlisle Join ESPN as Studio Analysts
Jalen Rose, a 13-year NBA veteran, has joined ESPN as a studio analyst.
He will regularly appear on NBA Fastbreak, ESPN’s nightly highlight,
news and information show, throughout the season. Rose played for seven
teams during his NBA career – Denver (1994-96), Indiana (1996-2001),
Chicago (2001-2003), Toronto (2003-2005), New York (2005-06) and
Phoenix (2006-07) – averaging 14.3 points per game, 3.8 assists and 3.5
rebounds. Rose, drafted 13th overall by the Denver Nuggets in 1994, was
a member of the All-Rookie Team and was named the NBA’s Most Improved
Player in 2000. He led the Indiana Pacers to three consecutive Eastern
Conference Finals from 1997-2000.
Rick Carlisle has also joined ESPN as a studio analyst and will appear
on NBA Fastbreak throughout the season. Carlisle has served as the head
coach of the Indiana Pacers (2003-07) and Detroit Pistons (2001-03),
and was named Coach of the Year for the 2001-02 season. As a player,
Carlisle was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1984 and was a member of
the 1986 NBA Championship team. He played for the Celtics (1984-87),
New York Knicks (1987-88) and New Jersey Nets (1989-90).
ESPN Studio Programming
ESPN’s NBA studio shows – all available in high definition -? will
include: the aforementioned Kia NBA Shootaround pre-game show
(generally Wednesdays and Fridays) with new host Scott and analysts
Walton and Smith; NBA Fastbreak, ESPN’s nightly highlight, news and
information show, regularly hosted by Matt Winer; and NBA Coast to
Coast, ESPN2’s whip-around format program (generally airing Tuesday
nights) offering viewers live look-ins to games across the country plus
highlights, news and information from around the league, with host John
Saunders.
ESPN’s deep roster of studio analysts contributing to NBA Fastbreak,
NBA Coast to Coast and additional news and information shows throughout
the season also includes analysts Greg Anthony, Tim Legler, Jamal
Mashburn and Kiki Vandeweghe, ESPN The Magazine’s Bucher and ESPN.com’s
Marc Stein. Additionally, Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe will
contribute to ESPN’s coverage of the NBA.
ESPN will continue to cover the NBA across all of its news and
information outlets including SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, NBA Matchup – the
weekly program hosted by Saunders focusing on the x’s and o’s approach
to the game, Outside the Lines, First Take, Pardon the Interruption,
Around the Horn and Rome is Burning.
