Mike Breen responds to criticism of his call of Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winner

Speaking in an interview Friday with SI’s Jimmy Traina, Breen explained himself. Essentially, Breen said that he reserves the “BANG!” for three-pointers only.

“We were so happy with such a fun game and a great comeback,” said Breem. “And now there’s obviously juice to the series, and I liked the Haliburton call, and then I find out later that I’m getting destroyed because I didn’t say ‘BANG!’”

“I think in all these years I only said bang for a two-pointer once,” Breen added. “It was a Kobe Bryant game-winner in the playoffs when he hit a shot against Phoenix, and it was the only time. That’s the only time. I save it for threes. In hindsight, because of the magnitude of the shot, it certainly would’ve worked and made people happy. But I don’t premeditate the call, and it was such an unbelievable shot. If he was beyond the 3-point mark, I probably would’ve said ‘BANG!’”

“BANG!” is the 64-year-old Breen’s signature call. But he does indeed reserve it almost exclusively for three-pointers. The most famous example of that so far this postseason was New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson’s series-winning three-pointer in the first round against the Detroit Pistons (which actually earned an even rarer double “BANG!” from Breen).

It is possible too that Breen is especially under the microscope these days given the unpopular state of the ESPN NBA team. After his longtime partners Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were let go by ESPN two summers ago, Breen has struggled to find chemistry with his new partners Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson. Now there are some rumors that ESPN could potentially shake up that crew in the booth after this season.