Orlando Magic Voice David Steele, Mike Breen Disappointed in NBA

David Steele has called Orlando Magic games for 37 years.

This season, though, with Orlando back in the playoffs, he won't be calling any Magic playoff games, even though he's available and ready.

Instead, the NBA will only air playoff games on national outlets like Prime, ESPN, Peacock after selling exclusivity to the playoff game rights, leaving local broadcasts out of the picture during first round playoff games for first time.

While the national broadcasts are loaded with popular names and great basketball minds, the NBA has decided to stray away from fan-favorite specialists in favor of chasing a generic singularity.

Voice of The Magic @steelemagic Sad to see NBA Eliminating Local Broadcasts for the Playoffs:

"It's one of the biggest disappointments in working in NBA broadcasting for the last 37 years...

Great games make great announcers."

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 @SwishTheory pic.twitter.com/ft2cl261Hp
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) April 23, 2026

David Steele, Mike Breen voice displeasure over NBA eliminating Local Playoff Broadcasts

Mike Breen talks — 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

Mike Breen is in a rare position.

He's been calling New York Knicks games since 1991 and with MSG network since 1997, while better known to the common sports fan as one of the main voices calling big NBA games nationally for ESPN, dropping his staple 'Bang!' when appropriate, becoming a staple voice of NBA Finals games.

During a recent national broadcast on ESPN, Breen discussed the NBA's decision to eliminate local broadcasts of playoff games, saying,"I personally think... it's a poor choice."

Breen later added, “I do think it’s important to remember that local broadcasts are enormous in terms of developing loyal fan bases that will last for generations, because that’s how most of us grow up. It’s a big part of learning to love our local team."

Magic and Pistons fans expecting to be greeted by the voices of David Steele or George Blaha, like they have come to expect before, during, and after ever regular game for decades, will wind up disappointed when they tune in before the game's even begun, especially if they were expected the voices they've become comfortable listening to in these moments.

Breen brought this need to warn fans up, "You’ve got to warn them. It was our final telecast on MSG of the season. You do the ‘say goodbye, see you next season’ type of thing and thanks to everybody. I felt that a lot of the fans were not aware that this was going to be it for the local broadcast, so I felt like it needed to be said.”

David Steele and Orlando's local broadcast crew of Jeff Turner, Dante Marchitelli, and Kendra Douglas will not get the opportunity to call NBA Playoff games for Orlando after calling games all season.

On my podcast, Learning Basketball, I asked the Voice of the Magic, David Steele, for his thoughts on the NBA's decision to eliminate local broadcasts of playoff games:

"It's one of the biggest disappointments in working in NBA broadcasting for the last 37 years," David Steele told me on the Learning Basketball podcast, adding, "great games make great announcers."

It is disappointing, it truly is.

It is one of the biggest disappointments in working in NBA broadcasting for the last 37 years...

The locals were able to do the first and the second rounds of the playoffs.

Then it was widdled down, maybe ten years ago or so, to just the first round were available to the local broadcasters.

And, now, with the new 7 Billion Dollar television agreement, the NBA structured so that the local broadcasters could do no games in the playoffs.

It is disappointing. Having been there from 1989 on, it is probably more hurtful for someone like me who has experienced the other end of it, and knows how great the playoffs are as a broadcaster, and knowing how many opportunities there are for great games and great calls.

Great games makes great announcers.

You can be a great announcer and never have an opportunity to display your skills, but the Playoffs give the team a platform, give the broadcasters, everybody is sort-of at their best during that time...

Part of the deterioration of what it has been like to broadcast NBA games from 1989 to 2026.
David Steele

David added that this issue has trickled into the regular season, too, with certain marquee matchups being handed exclusively to national outlets, knocking off another ten or so big games that won't feature local broadcasters on the call.

For fans of NBA teams, this is a disappointment by every measure, especially for those who think of the voices of the local broadcasters as a part of the experience they are turning in to see.

It's almost like ripping away fan-favorite characters from your favorite tv show just three episodes before the season finale with no explanation, replacing specialized perspective with generalists who know the game, but don't know the team as well as the people covering them on a day-to-day basis..

By shunning the local coverage, the NBA product loses out on the local perspective that's covering the team daily, losing valuable context in national discussions where storylines change quickly.

Time will tell if NBA fans and media make enough noise for the NBA to adjust; a solution could be as simple as giving fans the option to stream a local broadcast version of the game. For a league that loves experimenting with second screen stream ideas, this is a no-brainer to fan approval

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