Doris Burke

Doris Burke is an American sports announcer and analyst for NBA on ESPN, NBA on ABC, College Basketball on ESPN, College Basketball on ABC games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG, and has worked on New York Knicks games. Burke was the first female commentator to call a New York Knicks game on radio and television.[1] She played college basketball for the Providence Friars, finishing her career as the school's leader in assists. Honored for her pioneering work, she was selected to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame as the 2018 Curt Gowdy Media Award winner.

Doris Burke
Burke in 2011
Born
Doris Sable
Alma materProvidence College
OccupationESPN sports reporter
Years active1990 – present
Spouse(s)Gregg Burke (divorced)
Children2
AwardsProvidence College Hall of Fame (1999)
USA Today Rudy Award as the Best New Face in Sports Television (2003)
Institute for International Sport's Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame (2004)
Honorary doctorate from Providence College (2005)
New England Basketball Hall of Fame (2006) North Providence Hall of Fame (2006)
NCAA Silver Anniversary Award (2012)
Basketball Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media Award (2018)

Early years

Raised in Manasquan, New Jersey,[2][3] Doris Sable was the youngest of eight children. She started playing basketball in the second grade.[3] Her basketball idols growing up were Kyle Macy, Kelly Tripucka[4] and Tom Heinsohn.

She played as a point guard at Manasquan High School.[4] She was recruited by several eastern colleges.[4]

Collegiate athlete

She attended Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island.[1] Sable competed as a member of the Providence Friars women's basketball team, again as a point guard.

During her freshman year, Sable led the Big East Conference in assists.[4] She was a second-team All-Big East player once and twice made the all-tourney team of the Big East Women's Basketball Tournament.[3] As a senior in 1987[4] she was the college's Co-Female Athlete of the Year.[3]

She left Providence as its all-time leader in assists[4] and as of 2012 was still second in that career category.[3] She was later inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame[3] in 1999, the fifth woman so honored.

At Providence, Sable earned a bachelor's degree in health service administration/socIal work and later a master's degree in education.[5]

Personal life

Doris is divorced from Gregg Burke (Currently head Golf coach at University of Rhode Island) and they had two children together.[3][4] On March 27, 2020, Burke announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19, from which she has since recovered.[6]

Broadcasting career

Burke began her broadcasting career in 1990 as an analyst for women's games for her alma mater on radio. That same year, she began working in the same role on Big East Women's games on television, and in 1996 she began working Big East men's games. Burke has been working for ESPN one way or another since 1991. She has been a part of ESPN's coverage of the WNBA. And for many years, she was the primary radio and television voice of the New York Liberty. In 2003, Burke was named to ESPN's top men's basketball team working with Dick Vitale on the men's games and began working the sidelines for ESPN and ABC for their coverage of the NBA. In 2000, Burke became the first woman to be a commentator for a New York Knicks game on radio and on television; she is also the first woman to be a commentator for a Big East men's game, and the first woman to be the primary commentator on a men's college basketball conference package.[1][2] Since 2009, she has served as a sideline reporter for the NBA Finals for ABC Sports.

In 2010, she was featured as the new sideline reporter for 2K Sports's NBA 2K11 video game.[7] She has appeared in each edition since, including the latest in the series, NBA 2K21.[8][9]

In October 2013, Burke signed a multiyear contract extension to serve as an NBA commentator for ESPN.[10] On November 13, Burke debuted on ESPN's NBA pre-game show "NBA Countdown", alongside analysts Jalen Rose and Avery Johnson.

In 2017, Doris Burke became a regular NBA game analyst for ESPN, becoming the first woman at the national level to be assigned a full regular-season role. Burke replaced Doug Collins, who left ESPN for a job with the Chicago Bulls.

Awards and honors

In 1999, Burke was inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame. In 2003, she received the USA Today Rudy Award as the Best New Face in Sports Television.[1] In the spring of 2004, she was honored with induction into the Institute for International Sport's Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame, and in the spring of 2005 Providence College awarded her with an honorary doctorate degree. In October 2006, she was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.[2] The same year she became a member of the North Providence Hall of Fame. In January 2012 she received the Silver Anniversary Award in recognition of her athletic and professional accomplishments from the NCAA. In 2012, she called the Big East tournament and was a reporter during the championship game.[11][12] Honored for her pioneering work, she was selected to enter Basketball Hall of Fame as the 2018 Curt Gowdy Media Award winner.[13] For their first match of March 2019, the women of the United States women's national soccer team each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; Tobin Heath chose the name of Burke.[14]

References
  1. "Notable Alumni: Doris Burke". Providence College. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  2. "Doris Burke: Basketball Analyst & Reporter". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  3. Ryan, Bob. "She knows whereof she speaks", The Boston Globe, March 1, 2012. Accessed August 10, 2012. "Little Doris Sable grew up in Manasquan, N.J., dreaming of playing in the NBA. How much of her male audience can’t relate to that?"
  4. Riley, Lori (March 3, 2002). "In The Men's World". Hartford Courant.
  5. Himmelsbach, Adam (December 18, 2014). "Adam Asks: ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  6. https://www.si.com/nba/2020/03/27/doris-burke-tests-po
  7. "NBA 2K11 Videos: Bulls vs. Blazers w/ Doris Burke Commentary (Gamespot)".
  8. Harper, Zach (September 22, 2015). "WATCH: NBA 2K16 has captured the essence of Chris Bosh". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  9. Kato, Matthew (September 8, 2016). "NBA 2K17 — Expanding The Commentary Team". Game Informer. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  10. Diane, Pucin. "ESPN's Doris Burke gets contract extension". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  12. "Kevin Johnson, David Robinson, Doris Burke among NCAA Silver Anniversary Award winners". Washington Post. January 13, 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  13. "ESPN's Burke to receive Naismith media award". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  14. Ennis, Dawn. "Lesbian icons honored with jerseys worn by USWNT". Outsports. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
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