ESPN firings cap off difficult season for NBA broadcaster Mike Breen

Breen told the New York Post that he was taken aback by ESPN's decision to fire his broadcast partners Jeff Van Gundy (in June) and Mark Jackson (on Monday). The trio had worked 15 NBA Finals together, with the Van Gundy-Breen duo doing 17, since Jackson was coaching the Golden State Warriors in 2012 and 2013.

"You don’t expect it," Breen said. "Because it was such a great team and to have it completely broken up was a surprise."

It's not the only shocking thing to befall Breen this season. In September, the Hall of Fame broadcaster's New York home burned down while he was on vacation, destroying everything inside, including a career's worth of irreplaceable NBA memorabilia. One of those items was a jersey ESPN created for 2014's "nickname game."  Breen's read "The Gray Mamba" and the late Kobe Bryant signed it, "From one Mamba to another."

Breen called Van Gundy and Jackson "dream partners," and insisted they'd be friends "until the day we die." While it's rumored that ESPN will replace them with Doris Burke and Doc Rivers, Breen chose to focus on his old partners, since that move wasn't official yet.

"All the accomplishments were because of what we did together," Breen told the Post. "I really do feel personally any success I had was because I had those two guys next to me. They’re smart. They’re funny. They’re knowledgeable about their sport. They’re opinionated. They love their sport, but are not afraid to criticize. They just had a little bit of everything."

During the Finals, Breen talked about how the support from all his NBA friends was invaluable as he tried to recover from the house fire. "At a time where you kind of were wobbling a little bit after the news and what happened, all of these people that were there to rally and support around us," he said.

Now Breen will have to go on without two of his close friends during the next NBA season. After being the voice of so many basketball triumphs in the last two decades, this was a year of losses for Breen.