Mike Breen has been the beloved voice of the NBA Finals for almost two decades now. And in that time frame he has established himself as one of the best basketball play-by-play voices of all time. But Breen does not consider himself the best, he gives that honor to Marv Albert.
Before Breen, Marv Albert was once the voice of the NBA on NBC and called several NBA Finals, most notably during the era of Michael Jordan. He then moved to TNT where he finished out his career in 2021 where they only had rights through the conference finals, leaving Breen to call the NBA Finals after taking over from Al Michaels in 2007.
Breen also had to follow Albert as the voice of the New York Knicks. And with the Knicks hosting the Pistons in the opening game of their NBA Playoffs series, he made an appearance in the Madison Square Garden crowd. When he was found on the ESPN telecast, Mike Breen called Marv Albert “the greatest basketball play-by-play voice in history.”
Some levity followed as Richard Jefferson and Doris Burke offered differing sentiments. Jefferson joked that Breen was right in giving that mantle to Albert while Burke insisted that Breen was truly the best. It was great comedic timing from Jefferson and shows that he can be a great asset as the newest member of the ESPN NBA Finals team and begin to emulate some of the chemistry and humor that Breen formed for many years with Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
As far as the merits of the claim, there is no question that Mike Breen and Marv Albert are two of the best in NBA history. And much like the LeBron vs Michael Jordan GOAT debate that is never-ending, your perspective on who the best of all time is might just depend on which era of basketball you remember most fondly.