The Internet Broke Down Which NBA Players Have Received The Most Mike Breen "BANG!" Calls And Some Of The Names Might Surprise You
With the NBA's return on the horizon, that doesn't only mean that basketball returns to our lives. It also means this does too
There is absolutely nothing quite like the Mike Breen "BANG!" call. It's iconic. I'd go so far as to say that there are few better feelings in life than when one of those calls is in favor of your favorite team and nothing on earth feels worse than when a "BANG!" goes against you. You feel that shit in your bones. Just gut-wrenching stuff. If you're fortunate to get a double bang? It doesn't get much better than that considering that means something very awesome must have just happened.
So while I am excited for the actual basketball to be back, part of that of course is having Mike Breen call games on my TV again. What I had never really put much thought to though is which NBA players have had the most "BANG!" moments. Thankfully, the internet did
It is important to note that these are just the ABC games, so really the numbers are even higher since Breen also calls Knicks games. For example, I'm pretty sure Melo had a few additional calls on MSG network compared to just the 3 he has on this list.
I'd say the least surprising thing about this list was that the Splash Brothers are 1 and 2. I view them as the Founding Fathers of the Breen call.
It also goes without saying I love this list because of who I just so happen to see comfortably tied in the 3rd spot.
Only one of the most clutch players in the entire NBA. Since the first moment he stepped onto an NBA basketball court, Jayson Tatum has been making huge shots in National TV games. Call me crazy, but being on any sort of list where you're grouped with Kevin Durant and LeBron James seems pretty good. Especially in this category.
It wouldn't shock me if someone like Danny Green surprised some people, but I'm fairly certain those are all just huge late game dagger corner threes. The same guy who could be 0-10 would somehow always hit that one late corner three. The surprising thing with Green is more the players he's listed over. Harden, Kawhi, Luka, shit I feel like Luka has way more than 5 since he entered the league so that's a little nuts.
As always…
How about Smart with 6, tied with Kyrie and CP3. Part of that of course is the fact that Smart always found himself wide open in these situations because teams would dare him to make it, and this clearly shows he was as effective as some first ballot HOF point guards. Love that.
I also love how Lance has as many as Jimmy Butler, Murray, Dame and Melo. Dame is another player the Mike Breen call feels made for, and there's Lance Stephenson. When he got hot, he was the best player in the league. I don't know how to really explain that, I just know what I saw. Lance would have possessions where he was that guy.
Then you had the shockingly low numbers, guys like Wade only have 1 surprised me. Same with Kemba, but that's probably not his fault since there was no way the networks were putting CHA on ESPN/ABC all the time, but I would have figured Kemba had a few more during his brief Celts tenure. Jokic only having 1 is also due to the Nuggets never being on TV I would imagine, but that's certainly going to change now. I'm also a little surprised he didn't have more than 1 call in the Finals given how automatic he was.
Beal, Rose, Dirk, three more guys that I was surprised to learn only had 1. I think I'm quickly learning that Breen doesn't just toss out a "BANG!" unless it's truly warranted.
The good news is we're only a few more weeks away from training camp starting up which means we're just about a month away from the NBA season officially getting underway. The Mike Breen "BANG!" call will be back in our lives before you know it, and I dunno about anyone else but I cannot wait.