Doris Burke has the legacy of being the first woman to analyze a Finals broadcast in America’s four major leagues. But it seems this does not matter to the fans, as ESPN’s veteran broadcasters take against Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, Bam Adebayo has gotten into some trouble online. And tonight it was the call against the Los Angeles Lakers‘ Austin Reaves, which the 61-year-old disagreed with and instead praised the officials, who have been receiving flak during the playoffs.

AR managed to cross up Isaiah Hartenstein on a drive to the rim, but he was clearly impeded. The Thunder big man had his arms wide, and it struck above the chest area of the Lakers guard. Again, there was no whistle for the Lakers. However, Burke praised the lack of a whistle. “I think that’s a good no-call. I think this is becoming a much. These refs have done a really good job”. This is a sharp turnaround for her; after all, she is not well-liked by the Oklahoma City Thunder fans.

She went from calling SGA a free-throw merchant to now saying all of OKC is just playing physical, and the Lakers need to play through it. It was in February this year when she once again supported the call for Thunder star Lu Dort. This was the game when Nikola Jokic grabbed the opponent’s shirt and was ready for a showdown. It was Dort who tripped the Joker, and the refs called it “unnecessary” but also “excessive,” and awarded a flagrant 2. But Doris Burke was not convinced.

She stated at the time, “I thought it was a flagrant 1, to be perfectly frank with you.” That was her blatant bias toward Oklahoma City’s aggressive defensive identity. Even tonight, her multiple calls against the Lakers showcased this same narrative. It’s not just fans blaming the ESPN broadcaster. Even 4x NBA champion Draymond Green had aired his issue on social media. It was the Golden State’s battle against the San Antonio Spurs as Victor Wembanyama and Green faced off.

It was a specific non-call where Wemby appeared to have his arm wrapped around the Warriors veteran. Fans vented their frustration on social media, and one such comment on the Threads app caught Green’s attention as he dropped a reply. “She will always ignore things happening to me and only half mention the good. And take shots when they are available. Been that way for a while…” It seems that the ESPN broadcaster this time ignored things happening to the Lakers.

Fans are tired of the same old bias from Doris Burke

One netizen was simply so tired and simply wrote, “Can someone please cut Doris Burke mic off 🤐🤐🤐🤫.” Some fans thought her demotion from the NBA Finals team was because of constant such takes, which landed her in troubled waters with the fans. Another comment read, “‘Yea a good no call’ Doris Burke…you know basketball too well to spew that bs.” To showcase that tonight she really had a bias for the Thunder, some Lakers fans got the clip of SGA getting the call for minimal contact.

In the second quarter, the current MVP had possession, and Lakers Hachimura was guarding him. “That step pullback dribble into the mid range shakes Rui who’s got a size advantage,” stated Burke on the broadcast. But what she failed to notice was that the Lakers forward absorbed a contact. “Doris Burke said SGA shook Rui off but he pushed him off with his hands😆.” Since she was defending OKC again, another fan chimed in, “Anything for her to defend SGA. now she can say later that he didn’t foul bait for a good game.”

It was in the last game, where the Lakers, from the head coach to star player Austin Reaves, slammed the officiating so far. JJ Redick even had a problem “LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen. I mean get guy gets hit on the head more than any player I’ve seen on drives, and it rarely gets called.” His combined efforts from Game and Game from the charity stripe were just five attempts. Remembering this, a fan even questioned Doris Burke, if the contact against Bron was marginal or fair?

“She keeps saying it’s “marginal contact” when they foul LeBron as he’s shooting… since when is that not a foul when someone is shooting you cannot be touching them marginally or otherwise.” The 22x All-Star had 19 FG tonight, and just 4 calls for free throws, and all of them surprisingly came in the final frame. Clearly, these were the factors that resulted in the Lakers fans being annoyed at Doris Burke. And the 131-108 loss in Game 3 only angered them more.