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

October 24, 2007 -- 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 – Dallas (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.

Source: ESPN

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