As of the 2019–20 NBA season, he is currently in his 28th season as an NBA broadcaster, with some of those 28 taking place while Breen worked for NBC up until 2002, the network's last year as both an NBA and WNBA broadcaster. He is also the main voice for New York Knicks games on MSG Network. He first worked with the Knicks as a radio announcer for WFAN from 1992–97, when he was promoted to television play-by-play upon Marv Albert's firing following his infamous sex scandal. He later became Albert's backup upon his return in 1999, before finally becoming the lead play-by-play upon Albert's second dismissal in 2004. On February 8, 2006, with the departure of Al Michaels from the network, ABC announced that Breen would take over as the lead broadcaster for the NBA, including the NBA Finals. His broadcasting career started doing play-by-play for the Marist College Red Foxes basketball team in 1985. Other than his role as ABC's main play-by-play on Saturday nights, Breen usually works for ESPN on Fridays and occasionally on Wednesdays, usually calling games alongside Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, with the rest of his schedule reserved for MSG. He has also called college basketball games for ESPN. Breen is known for yelling the word "Bang!" after a key shot is made, usually very late in the game. Famous "Bang" calls include Stephen Curry's game-winning 38-foot three-point shot vs. Oklahoma City in 2016 and Ray Allen's game-tying shot against San Antonio in game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, and many others. When the Knicks made the 2011 NBA Playoffs, he did not call any of the games for MSG due to his involvement with ESPN and ABC; he did call Games 3 and 4 for ESPN and ABC, respectively. Some of Breen's current and past broadcast partners were employed with the Knicks at one point. The list includes former Knicks head coachesHubie Brown and Jeff Van Gundy, former Knicks players Mark Jackson and Walt Frazier, and former Knicks radio color announcer John Andariese. While working alongside Bill Walton on ESPN, Breen was on hand for the infamous Pacers–Pistons brawl on November 19, 2004. In addition, he was also the voice of the NBA Live, beginning with NBA Elite 11, alongside his usual ESPN partners Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. However, the series was canceled indefinitely. He did voice along with Van Gundy in the NBA Live series beginning with NBA Live 14 through NBA Live 18. Following NBA Live 18, Breen and Van Gundy were replaced by Ed Cohen and Jay Williams.
Breen has been a fixture on the radio as well. He began his professional radio career as a sportscaster on WNBC radio in the early 1980s, and frequently substituted for Dave Sims as host of "SportsNight" on the station. From 1988–2000, Breen did the sports segment on the WFAN and nationally syndicated Imus in the Morning talk/comedy radio show. Breen became noted for his deadpan delivery of false sports news, such as in the mid-1990s reporting that in the previous night's Mets game, "Félix Millán went 4-for-4 with 3 runs scored".
Personal life
Breen resides on Long Island, New York with his wife Rosanne and their three children, Michael, Nicole, and Matt.
