Doris Burke is receiving a lot of love this weekend.
While at Oklahoma City’s Devon Park on Friday for the Women’s College World Series between Texas Tech and Texas, Richard Jefferson put out an endorsement for his broadcast partner.
He joined the SEC Network pregame show dressed in a “My Favorite Broadcaster is Doris Burke” shirt while being interviewed by Haylie McCleney, Tori Vidales and Alyssa Lang.
Jefferson and Burke head the broadcast team for ESPN and ABC’s NBA coverage, along with play-by-play voice Mike Breen.
Prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday between the Pacers and Thunder, The Athletic reported that Burke’s spot for next season is “not guaranteed.”
This year marks Burke’s second NBA Finals as the lead analyst for ESPN.
Jefferson, whom ESPN “intends” to keep despite being on an expiring contract, per the report, clearly wanted to show that he has Burke’s back.
He was also found in the softball crowd sitting next to Burke during Friday’s game, and he again made his shirt known.
Jefferson held out shirt and pointed to it for the camera, before motioning in her direction. Burke smiled and laughed at her teammate’s gesture.
The ex-Nets star is not the only one to come to Burke’s defense, with Pacers coach Rick Carlisle also speaking out on Burke’s behalf prior to Game 1.
“I saw the things that were leaked yesterday about Doris Burke and I just wanted to say a couple of things. She has changed the game for women in broadcasting,” Carlisle said.
“Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there. It was just so sad to see the reports leaked, really unnecessarily, before such a celebrated event. Doris is a friend. I’ve asked her many times, when is she getting into coaching, because she has such great knowledge. There are many women who she’s paved the way for.”
Burke was promoted to the network’s top NBA booth after ESPN parted ways with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson.
It has been an ever-changing panel, as Burke has been paired with three different co-analysts since joining the group.
Burke joined ESPN Radio’s “Joe & Q” show earlier this week and had an emotional reaction to Carlisle’s defense of her work.
“He reached out to me earlier in the day and I just want you guys to consider – I’m going to try not to get emotional here,” Burke said. “The man is about to coach Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he has absolutely reached the pinnacle of his sport.
“But he took the time to check in on another human being to make sure I was okay. He has always been an enormous supporter of mine. And I just think it speaks to the human being he is. When he walked in that coaches meeting, I always give him a hug, I held him a little bit longer last night.”