Longtime NBA announcer Mike Breen lost his Long Island home Sunday in a massive fire.
Kay added that everything in the house was “destroyed,” leaving the Breens without their tangible “personal memories.”
According to TMZ Sports, Breen’s home was the one shown online Sunday in photos and video of the blaze shared by the Manhasset-Lakeville (N.Y.) Fire Department. A department official told The Washington Post via email Thursday that the MLFD could not confirm the homeowner because “no homeowner was present at the scene of the fire.” He added that “multiple neighbors did report that the house was Mike Breen’s home.”
The MLFD stated in its online post that it was alerted to the blaze just after 4 a.m. Sunday. Units encountered a “fully involved house fire” and used hand lines, two ladder pipes and a deck gun to combat it.
“Mike and his wife, Roseanne, they were in California finishing up a vacation before he starts the NBA season,” Kay said (via Awful Announcing) on his ESPN New York radio show. “They got a call right before they were getting on a plane that something had happened to the house. It burned down to the ground.”
“The reason he asked me to say this,” Kay continued, “is that so many people have reached out, and he’s in the middle of trying to get his life together dealing with insurance companies, trying to get clothes that he can wear on the air next week when the NBA starts.
“So he just wants everyone to know, within the sound of our voice, he considers himself absolutely blessed for the people that have reached out and asked to help.”
Kay added that in addition to photos of Breen’s children and other personal mementos, Breen lost handwritten notes from every game he had called. It is unclear how the blaze began; the MLFD official confirmed that the incident is under investigation.
In addition to being a widely beloved figure among Knicks fans, the 61-year-old Breen is familiar to millions of NBA fans as the lead voice for the league on ABC and ESPN. Known for punctuating crucial baskets with a “Bang!” exclamation, he began announcing national games on ESPN in 2003 and has called the past 17 NBA Finals.
“Mike is a cherished member of the ESPN family and he knows he has our full support through this excruciating circumstance,” ESPN said in a statement. “We know the damage is devastating, and at the same time, we are grateful that he and his family are safe.”
