Knicks Announcer Offers In-Game Tribute to Late Coach

Mike Breen gave a tribute to his late high school basketball coach during his call of the last New York Knicks game.

Jan 17, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen during the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Long before "Bang!," New York Knicks broadcaster Mike Breen balled.

Breen offered a heartfelt tribute to his high school basketball coach, the late Brother Jim Weigand, while on the mike for the national ESPN broadcast of the Knicks' Wednesday night showdown with the Atlanta Hawks. Before becoming the voice of both the Knicks and the Worldwide Leader's primary NBA broadcasters, Breen played under Weigand's watch at Salesian High School in New Rochelle.

"I’m not broadcasting this game, I’m not where I am today if it wasn’t for Brother Jim," Breen said. "{He was] one of the most important people, and will always be one of the most important people in my life."

“His knowledge and teachings took my love of the game to a new level and those teachings would later help me in life," Breen continued. [He was] a man of great faith who devoted his entire life to helping young men and women through basketball and I think for me tonight to salute brother Jim and to salute all the high school coaches for everybody, men and women, who have changed the life of young people, they don’t get enough credit.”

Breen was partly inspired by his pregame conversation with Knicks captain and point guard Jalen Brunson, who praised his own high school coach, Pat Ambrose of Adlai Stevenson High School, in his pregame conversations.

Weigand was working at Don Bosco Preparatory High School at the time of his passing, which was announced on Sunday by the Ramsey, NJ establishment's athletic department. DBP's obituary referred to Weigand as "The Shot Doctor" and he was awarded the National Federation of High Schools Coaches Association Coach of the Year for New Jersey in 2018.

Breen has missed the past few Knicks games on MSG Network because of his national duties and is set to be on the call for the Western portion of the NBA Cup semifinals, which sees the Oklahoma City Thunder face the Houston Rockets (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

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