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In the heat of the NBA playoffs, ESPN analyst Doris Burke is the most prepared

Scott Davis   

In the heat of the NBA playoffs, ESPN analyst Doris Burke is the most prepared
  • Doris Burke, an ESPN NBA analyst and beloved announcer, does an amazing amount of preparation during the playoffs.
  • Burke re-watches games and highlights, goes to media sessions, conducts interviews, and compiles stats into sprawling "game boards" of information for her broadcasts.

As the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets battled in Game 5 of their first-round series on Wednesday, ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke was "living and dying" with every shot.

Of course, Burke cared about the results and whether the Warriors would eliminate the Nuggets from the playoffs or whether the Nuggets would force a Game 6 in Denver.

But the result also impacted her job: she was waiting to see if she would be traveling from her home in Pennsylvania to Denver or somewhere else on assignment.

"You're up until 12:30-1 o'clock in the morning trying to figure out, do I need to go upstairs to my bedroom and get myself packed? And what time is the first flight I can get to Denver direct tomorrow," Burke told Insider.

Alas, the Warriors knocked off the Nuggets, and on Thursday, Burke was assigned to Game 1 of the Boston Celtics-Milwaukee Bucks second-round series in Boston, which begins Sunday.

With that assignment comes a whole slew of work for Burke, who has become one of the most popular basketball analysts. At a time of year when the remaining NBA teams put their heads down and focus on opponents like never before, Burke may be one of the few who can match their intensity and thoroughness in preparation.

Burke does tons of research to prepare for broadcasts

Burke is quite familiar with the Celtics and Bucks, as both are frequently on national TV.

Nonetheless, before broadcasting Game 1, Burke wants to know both teams as if she's only watched them all season.

Burke told Insider she'll go back and watch a handful of both the Celtics' and Bucks' first-round series, and she may pick out specific games where storylines unfolded.

"One of the things that popped into my head is, Oh, [Bucks guard] Grayson Allen had two big games. [Bucks head coach] Mike Budenholzer has been telling us all year that he absolutely loves what Grayson Allen has brought to this team," Burke said. "I'll go back and watch those two for sure ... I wanna know where Grayson's shots came from, how confident he looks taking them, etc."

Working at ESPN helps Burke's preparation, and she is quick to credit others with the help she receives. Burke told Insider she leans on the research department at ESPN to retrieve information when a random thought pops into her head — for example, what the stats say about how a particular player defended this season.

Burke also receives emails from ESPN each morning with articles about the teams they plan to cover, which Burke reads.

Burke and the rest of the broadcast team will often land in a new city with a day to spare and go to media sessions the next day to conduct individual interviews. They also get 15 minutes with head coaches before the games to ask about lineups, rotations, adjustments — whatever they want.

Burke then spills all this information and more onto her "game boards," which might generously be described as chaos.

Burke sent Insider two examples from a recent Phoenix Suns-New Orleans Pelicans game (keep in mind that this is only for one game, and Burke will cover multiple series):

Within these notes are players' stats from the regular season, last season, their playoff stats, series stats, situational stats, career accolades, on-court tendencies, and more.

Burke said hand-writing notes helps her remember the stats and that she rarely looks down at her notes during games.

"It's almost a security blanket," she said.

Burke keeps all of these boards for future use, building up a database on each team.

"You are essentially building up knowledge over the course of time and can revisit through the years," Burke said.

Burke doesn't tire of basketball

The NBA season lasts about eight months a year, and this time of year, it especially dominates Burke's life.

Burke admitted that the uncertainty of scheduling can be "frustrating." Travel plans get dicey with the outcomes of the games, like when a Warriors-Nuggets game ran long, and she worried about missing her flight. Or when she nearly groggily scheduled an Uber that would have taken her to the airport with only 30 minutes to spare (luckily, ESPN sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth caught the mistake).

Despite all of this, Burke loves this time of year

"This is the best time of year," Burke said. "If you're an NBA fan, you're in front of your TV set every night because these games are so compelling."

There are occasional times during the regular season when Burke takes a night off to get dinner with friends or simply watch something other than basketball. But Burke, noting she has most of the summer off, rarely tires of it.

"Most nights, if I'm not working, I'm watching," Burke said. "Because that's our job. The fact is, I love watching. So to me, it's like, this is my job. And sometimes I marvel that this is my job — actually, quite often I marvel that this is my job."

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