ESPN’s Doc Rivers is set to become the new Bucks coach after Adrian Griffin yesterday was fired, and Rivers' move is "stinging for the network," according to Andrew Marchand of the N.Y. POST. Sources said that one of the reasons ESPN let go of its longtime analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson was "because of their desire to coach again." Upon hiring Rivers this past summer as part of its NBA broadcasting team, ESPN execs “stressed to him that they didn’t want the network to be a waiting room until he took his next coaching job.” With Rivers potentially out and Van Gundy and Jackson fired, ESPN has play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and analyst Doris Burke “as its lead NBA team.” If ESPN promoted an analyst to join Breen and Burke, JJ Redick and Richard Jefferson “would be the top candidates” ( N.Y. POST, 1/23 ).
Doc Rivers joining Bucks creates issue for ESPN's lead NBA crew
