There are many women in the sports industry that, by breaking barriers, have paved the way for future generations. Doris Burke is one of those women. 

She has paved the way for women in the basketball industry by shattering barriers and racking up accolades.

In 1990, Doris Burke began her analytical career commentating for Providence College Women’s Basketball, where she played. In that same year, Doris Burke accomplished something a woman has never done before. She was the lead analyst commentating for the Big East Conference tournament. 

Doris Burke broke even more barriers in 1996, when she was the first woman to commentate Men’s Big East basketball games, which led her to her job working for ESPN. She has been working ever since. 

“Had I considered over the course of time the moments where maybe I was the first woman to do this or that, it would have scared the absolute daylights out of me,” Burke said when asked how it felt breaking all of these barriers. “And the pressure probably would have been more weighty than I would have wanted.”

Today, she commentates for the NBA on ESPN and ABC, and is one of the most respected and accomplished basketball analysts the industry has ever seen. Doris Burke is also one of the highest paid NBA analysts, man or woman, making over $1 million dollars a year. 

“It’s a bunch of small little acts, you know, that contribute to growth,” Burke explained when asked about the women across the world she’s impacted. 

Today, there are many women coaches in the NBA along with many more analysts across the league. Notably, Rachel Nichols is now the host of the popular talk show, “The Jump”, and Sarah Kustok is now the lead analyst for the Brooklyn Nets of YES network.

Doris Burke really has paved the way for young women in the world, proving that young women across the world have a place in sports.