Doris Burke

American sports analyst and announcer Doris Burke (née Sable) was born on April 11, 1965 in West Islip, New York. She was raised in Manasquan, New Jersey as the youngest of eight children in an Irish Catholic family. Burke started playing basketball at a very young age and earned an athletic scholarship to Providence College making her the first in her family to graduate from college. While at Providence she broke records as a point guard, leading the Big East Conference in assists her freshman year. She would later be inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame in 1999. After graduating, Burke took a role as broadcaster and analyst for women's sports at Providence College, first for radio and then television in 1990. She began working for ESPN in 1991 in a variety of positions from announcer to sideline analyst. Breaking into roles previously only held by men, she was a commentator for the New York Knicks and Big East men's games as well as sideline reporter for the NBA men's finals. In 2013 Burke debuted on ESPN's pregame show "NBA Countdown" (ESPN, 2002- ). In 2017 she became the first woman on the national level to hold the role of regular NBA game analyst. She joined an initiative within ESPN to have the first national all-female broadcasting and production team in 2022, working with fellow commentator Beth Mowins.