Tracy Austin questions NBA announcing Doris Burke as 1st woman analyst at major men's event; points to Mary Carillo's US Open stint with John McEnroe
Former US Open champion, Tracy Austin questioned the NBA's announcement while emphasizing the importance of tennis as a major sport. The NBA recently announced Doris Burke as the first female TV analyst for a major men's championship event.
Burke has been an important part of ESPN's coverage of the NBA, serving as a radio expert and as a sideline commentator in previous NBA finals. However, this year, Burke became the first woman analyst to cover the NBA finals on TV.
NBA on ESPN announced the news on their X handle, with the caption:
"Doris Burke will make history when the NBA Finals tip off."
Tracy Austin was vocal against this announcement. While congratulating Burke on her new role, Austin also pointed out that Mary Carillo had served as a TV analyst alongside John McEnroe at the men's finals of the US Open, one of the high-profile tennis events. Highlighting Carillo's role in tennis coverage, Austin enquired if tennis was not being considered a major sport.
"Congrats to Doris but is this a trick question? Didn’t Mary Carillo call the Men’s finals of the @usopen for @CBSSports for years with John McEnroe? Is tennis not a major sport?" Austin wrote.
Mary Carillo has been a steady presence in TV Commentary at the US Open since 1986.
"I'm genuinely curious about the athletic heart"- Mary Carillo was inspired by watching great athletes around her like John McEnroe
Mary Carillo was always inspired by greatness and her fondness for watching athletes ply their trade across sports helped her in journalism and broadcasting. She lived near John McEnroe's residence during her childhood and got to watch him develop into a tennis great. While naming Usain Bolt and Simeone Biles as some other athletes who inspired her, in a 2020 interview with WTA Insider, she said (via wtatennis.com),
"I think I had pretty great awareness of what I could do, and especially because I grew up a couple of blocks away from a kid younger than me, John McEnroe. I saw greatness at such a young age. I saw how talented he was...I'm genuinely curious about the athletic heart. I love the way it beats. I love the resilience of athletes. I genuinely have so much admiration and respect for what Simone Biles can do... It genuinely inspires me," Carillo said.
The former pro said that she came from a family of artists who loved to communicate through their professions, and how it could've played a role in her becoming a journalist after she retired from tennis.
"My father's an artist. My brother's a novelist. My sister's an actress. My son's an actor. We all seem to think we have something to say. We're all pretty convinced of it, this Carillo family," she added.