ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy and insider Adrian Wojnarowski will not broadcast Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors due to COVID-19, the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reports.
Additionally, Mike Breen has yet to be cleared to announce the game after testing positive last Sunday.
The former Knicks and Rockets head coach has been an ESPN analyst since 2007 when he first joined the network’s top announcing crew. Instead of replacing Van Gundy, ESPN will go with a two-man booth with Mark Jackson as the lone color commentator along with either Breen or Mark Jones.
Wojnarowski has been with ESPN since 2017, spending the last five years as the network’s primary NBA insider.
According to Marchand, ESPN hopes Van Gundy will be cleared for Game 2 on Sunday.
Van Gundy is the second ESPN announcer to miss a broadcast in the network’s last two playoff games. Breen was forced to miss Game 7 of Celtics-Heat on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19, while Mark Jones filled in for him. It is unclear whether Breen will return for Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night.
