Kevin Harlan Had Touching Knicks Playoff Gesture for Mike Breen

Kevin Harlan had touching Knicks playoff gesture for Mike Breen

Mike Breen had a chance to call last year's Eastern Conference finals, even though they were on TNT. The longtime Knicks play-by-play announcer on MSG Network has been a prominent fixture in the NBA as the lead play-by-play caller on ESPN. But last year, TNT's Kevin Harlan offered Breen a chance to call the Knicks ECF series against the Pacers despite Breen's status with the Worldwide Leader.

The NBA Finals are a reward for long-suffering Knicks fans — and this broadcaster

ESPN’s Mike Breen will be the play-by-play man for his record-extending 21st straight NBA Finals this year. And for the first time, the New York native will be calling the team he grew up rooting for in the championship round.

Mike Breen reveals Kevin Harlan offered him Knicks-Pacers conference finals call on TNT

Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images (both)A few days before the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals, Kevin Harlan called Mike Breen and offered to give him the series. Breen told Dexter Henry of the New York Post that Harlan, who had been assigned Knicks-Pacers on TNT, wanted him to have it instead. ESPN had drawn the Western Conference Finals that year, which meant Breen was headed to Oklahoma City and Minnesota while New York — the team he had called in…