Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said it was “sad” to see Wednesday’s report from The Athletic speculating on Doris Burke’s future in ESPN’s top NBA broadcasting booth before the 2025 NBA Finals tipped off.

News broke on Wednesday that Doris Burke's future as a broadcaster at ESPN is not secure. On Thursday, ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle sung the praises of the broadcaster as someone who has "changed the game" and inspired women in and out of the sports broadcasting industry.

The drive between the little upstate New York towns of Lisbon and Ogdensburg, by Rick Carlisle's recollection, would take about eight minutes. In that part of the world, in the St. Lawrence valley just a few miles south of Canada,