Mike Breen

Mike Breen is recognized as the lead voice for professional basketball in the United States. As the primary play-by-play announcer for the NBA on ESPN and ABC, including the NBA Finals and NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC, Breen has developed a career spanning four decades, becoming closely associated with the sport's most significant moments. He has called a record number of NBA Finals series, a milestone unmatched in the history of league broadcast coverage. Breen also serves as the lead play-by-play announcer for New York Knicks telecasts on MSG Networks alongside Walt Frazier, a Hall of Fame duo that began calling Knicks games together on radio and have been part of MSG Networks' telecasts for many years.

Breen's broadcasting career began at Fordham University, where he gained experience at the campus radio station WFUV. After graduating, he worked as a newscaster and sportscaster for WEOK/WPDH Radio in Poughkeepsie, New York, before moving on to television commentary for Marist College basketball games on Colony Sports Network and serving as an analyst for Seton Hall basketball on radio. He worked with the Knicks as a radio announcer for WFAN, steadily building his reputation in the nation's largest media market. Breen joined NBC as a backup play-by-play announcer for the NBA playoffs and remained in that role until the network's coverage of the league concluded. He later joined ESPN as the number three announcer for NBA coverage and was named the lead broadcaster for the NBA on ABC, including the NBA Finals.

In addition to his basketball work, Breen has demonstrated versatility across sports broadcasting. He has announced at five Olympic Games, covering basketball at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Sydney, and Athens, ski jumping at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and men's and women's basketball at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Breen has also called NFL regular season games for NFL on Fox and NFL on NBC, as well as New York Giants preseason games. This range of experience has established him as a reliable voice in sports broadcasting.

Breen is known for his signature exclamation, often yelling the word "BANG!"—or phrases such as "It's good!" or "Puts it in!"—after a key shot is made late in the game. He adopted this trademark after using it as a fan and receiving a positive reaction when he incorporated it into his broadcasts. Notable "Bang!" calls include Stephen Curry's game-winning 38-foot three-point shot against Oklahoma City, Ray Allen's game-tying shot against San Antonio in the NBA Finals, and Luka Dončić's game-winning buzzer-beater in overtime against the Clippers in the playoffs.

Breen's achievements in sports broadcasting have been recognized with several honors. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award, an annual award for outstanding achievements in basketball writing and broadcasting. Breen has won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Personality/Play-by-Play multiple times and has been honored with the Sports Play-by-Play Award and Governors' Award at the New York Sports Emmy Awards. He has also received eight New York Emmy Awards for sports play-by-play and the Vin Scully Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting from Fordham University. Breen was named to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle honor society, further recognizing his enduring impact on basketball broadcasting.