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June 5 update: Jeff Van Gundy is back in the booth for Game 2, so his positive test ahead of Game 1 must’ve been a false positive. He has delivered negative tests 24 hours apart and is therefore good to go for Game 2. Mike Breen, however, is still in COVID protocols and will miss Game 2. He’ll try to get back for Game 3 Wednesday in Boston.
The 2022 NBA Finals will start out with some new faces in the broadcast booth as both Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen are likely to be out for Game 1 between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors Thursday. Van Gundy is officially out after testing positive for COVID-19, while Breen is still in the league’s protocols after testing positive ahead of the Celtics-Heat Game 7 which he missed. There was hope he’d be back in time for Game 1 of the Finals.
NEWS: Jeff Van Gundy is out for the start of the NBA Finals with COVID, Mike Breen still needs to be cleared for tonight's game, while Woj also has COVID, The Post has learned.https://t.co/AyxnBQeVHn
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) June 2, 2022
Mark Jones is expected to take over Breen, as he did in Celtics-Heat Game 7. There’s no word on whether ABC will add another analyst to replace Van Gundy or whether Mark Jackson will be the solo analyst. Lisa Salters remains on the court as the sideline reporter.
Game 1 is set to tip at 9:00 p.m. ET from the Chase Center in San Francisco.