Tim Legler has reached the pinnacle of NBA broadcasting. Unlike many of his predecessors, he has no desire to parlay his media role into a coaching job.

The 10-year NBA veteran, who is making his NBA Finals broadcasting debut for ABC/ESPN this year alongside Richard Jefferson and Hall-of-Famer Mike Breen, dismissed the possibility of taking an NBA coaching job in an interview with Front Office Sports.

“No, honestly, I haven’t put any thought into it,” Legler said Thursday in between Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals.

ESPN has seen members of its lead NBA broadcast team return to coaching several times. Mark Jackson called the NBA Finals from 2007–2010, coached the Warriors from 2011–2014, then returned to ESPN. ESPN brought Doc Rivers, who called the 2004 NBA Finals, into its lead broadcast team for the 2023–24 season, then he left midseason to coach the Bucks. 

Most recently, JJ Redick called the 2024 NBA Finals and was announced as the Lakers coach after the series concluded.

Legler said he’s constantly asked by fans about his desire to coach because of his Xs-and-Os approach to broadcasting. He said he previously pursued NCAA Division 1 coaching opportunities, even interviewing with schools like Duquesne, South Florida, and La Salle, his alma mater. 

But he never got an offer.

“I really wanted a D1 program to call my own,” Legler said. “I went through the interview process several times and I didn’t get it.” 

Legler said his college coaching interviews happened about 6–8 years ago. In a 2022 interview on The Old Man and The Three, which was then hosted by Redick, he still expressed a desire to coach in the NCAA.

“I haven’t been able to get that door kicked open,” Legler said.

Changes in the NCAA in recent years—including NIL and the transfer portal—have also muddied his outlook on college coaching. Broadcasting, he said, grants him a better lifestyle.

Legler, who has been with ESPN since 2000, started calling nationally televised NBA games last year. He took over for Doris Burke on the company’s “A-Team” this season.

“Maybe it was the biggest blessing because I love what I’m doing and I’m really grateful where I’m at,” Legler said. “Feels like this is the path that I was destined to be on and I’m really grateful. And I don’t really put much thought into coaching at all anymore.”

ESPN’s lead NBA broadcast team has had significant turnover since moving on from Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy in 2023. This is their fourth season in a row with a different group alongside Breen, who has called the last 21 NBA Finals:

• 2023: Breen, Van Gundy, Jackson
• 2024: Breen, Burke, Redick
• 2025: Breen, Burke, Jefferson
• 2026: Breen, Jefferson, Legler

There is also ostensibly more pressure on ESPN as the NBA began its new 11-year media deal this year, replacing Warner Bros. Discovery with new media partners NBC and Amazon Prime. (ESPN has the rights to the NBA Finals for the entire deal.)

But Legler said he feels “comfortable” and “prepared” for his new role, and is optimistic that the current trio will be given some runway to build continuity in the booth, even as Breen enters the back half of his sixties.

“Hopefully this is the last chair I sit at in ESPN,” Legler said. “I’ve sat in a lot of chairs and I want to do this for a long time—and hopefully Richard and Mike feel the same way.

It’s a crazy industry, but that would certainly be the goal and the hope for all of us.” 

The post ESPN’s Tim Legler: ‘I Don’t Think About Coaching Anymore’ appeared first on Front Office Sports.

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg’s children have sued his widow for alleged mishandling of his trust.

In the lawsuit, Justin Sandberg and Lindsey Sandberg accused their stepmother, Margaret Sandberg, of going against their father’s wishes by trying to shift control of the trust that oversees his name, image and likeness rights to her, her son and the family’s financial adviser.

This change would destroy the “collaborative arrangement” Sandberg set up between his second wife and biological children, the suit filed in April in Lake County Circuit Court said. The dispute was first reported Wednesday by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Norm Finkel and Adam Hirsch, attorneys representing the siblings, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Margaret Sandberg couldn’t be reached for comment.

Ryne Sandberg, often referred to as “Ryno,” is perhaps best known for the June 23, 1984, “Sandberg Game,” where he hit a pair of thrilling home runs in the ninth and 10th innings. He won nine Gold Glove and seven Silver Slugger awards, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. He also went on to have a career as a manager.

He died last July at age 65 from metastatic prostate cancer. The baseball legend disclosed the diagnosis the year prior, and while he at one point went into remission, the cancer returned and spread to other organs.

Before his death, Ryne Sandberg left “clear instructions” that Margaret, Justin and Lindsey Sandberg would act as equal co-trustees over his name, image and likeness rights, the lawsuit said. He married Margaret Koehnemann in 1995 after divorcing his first wife, Cindy.

“It would disappoint me if they were unable to make decisions on my (name, image and likeness) in a positive and collaborative manner,” he wrote in the trust, the lawsuit said. “It is also important to me to have any project reflect positively on my legacy and my entire family.”

However, after his death, the lawsuit accuses his widow of ignoring the siblings and refusing to sign documents to open a new, separate bank account for the trust. It said she has refused to establish the trust, a “direct contravention of Ryne’s wishes.”

Instead, it said Margaret Sandberg produced a note her husband allegedly wrote on July 16, less than two weeks before his death. The note purported to amend the trust and add his stepson and the family’s financial adviser as trustees, the suit said.

The lawsuit included a copy of the short, signed note where Ryne Sandberg allegedly wrote “N.I.L” at the top and “majority rules” at the bottom with a list of the five names on the new committee.

The suit argues that the note isn’t “legally enforceable” because it wasn’t delivered to the siblings prior to their father’s death, as required by the trust. It also said their father lacked the “capacity” with his deteriorating medical state to make such a change.

Justin and Lindsey Sandberg visited their father in the weeks leading up to his death, and said he was often “heavily sedated” and in “significant pain,” according to the lawsuit. He was admitted to hospice on July 20.

It alleged that on the same day Ryne Sandberg supposedly wrote the note, his daughter heard him screaming in pain from his driveway. He also had lapses in short-term memory before his death, the suit said.

The siblings asked the court in the suit to declare that the note isn’t a “valid or enforceable amendment” to the trust, and to compel their stepmother to create the trust.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 31.

NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t expect his Monday appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to spark so much negative feedback. After all, he went on NBC’s late-night talk show to promote his charity, the Jazz Chisholm foundation.

And yet, Chisholm’s chat with Fallon sparked some jokes and blowback after the host asked the colorful character what the Yankees’ ultimate goal is this season.

“I mean, to win a World Series,” Chisholm replied. “We’re in New York.”

“Are we gonna do it?” Fallon followed up.

“Oh, for sure,” Chisholm replied, without hesitation.

That wasn’t the first time that the candid Chisholm has forecasted a Yankees championship since being traded to the team midway through the 2024 season, but not everyone took well to the comment on social media, where not all accounts highlighted the full exchange with Fallon. Meanwhile, Guardians radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton brought up Chisholm’s remarks during Tuesday’s game between the Yankees and Cleveland.

“He predicted the Yankees will win the World Series. He did that last night on the Jimmy Fallon show,” the Hall of Famer said before adding, “Pretty amazing he got on the Jimmy Fallon show batting .239.”

That clip spread on social media as well, and brought some criticism Hamilton’s way with Chisholm promoting his charity. The announcer did go on to say that Chisholm “has a world of talent,” and he highlighted the second baseman’s 30-30, All-Star campaign in 2025, but that did not make the rounds.

On Wednesday, Chisholm, not enjoying the best season ahead of free agency, responded to Hamilton’s “.239” jab.

“I mean, I am a two-time All-Star,” Chisholm told the New York Daily News before homering in Wednesday’s game. “Just keep watching the games. Keep watching.

“I’m not trying to be arrogant or anything. First of all, it was really for my charity that I was there.”

Chisholm went on to say that Fallon is a huge Yankees fan — the comedian regularly attends games — and that he “loves the way I play baseball.” Fallon invited Chisholm on The Tonight Show, and the speedster jumped at the chance to hype his foundation, which seeks to provide resources and opportunities to young athletes in New York, Florida and The Bahamas.

“So for someone to hate on the Jimmy Fallon show and hitting .239 — my guy, I was hitting .180 a month ago!” said Chisholm, who has been better of late.

Asked about Chisholm’s response, Hamilton told The News that he thought his joke was “innocuous,” and he noted that he brought up the infielder’s past accomplishments.

“In no way was I trying to belittle him,” Hamilton said, adding that the Yankees will need Chisholm if they’re to achieve their goals this season.

Hamilton wasn’t the only one to get a rebuttal from Chisholm, as the pinstriper also clapped back at the masses who didn’t appreciate his so-called World Series prediction.

“Do people want me to say, ‘Umm, I think my team is gonna come in third place and not make the playoffs and not get to the World Series?” Chisholm asked sarcastically with the Yankees in second place. “’We’re not gonna win it all this year, you guys.’

“Like no, that’s stupid.”

Chisholm has a point, but he’s always been a lightning rod.

“I’m a magnet for just being completely confident in my team,” he said with a smile.

Lucy Rohden is leaving Meadowlark Media and The Dan Le Batard Show to formalize a college football media brand with multiple new partners, she told Awful Announcing this week.

Rohden, best known for her viral TikTok explainers and sketches as well as her Off-Rohding campus series at Meadowlark, will launch LucyCFB this week. This fall, Rohden will partner with Betches Media and Homefield Apparel for new series and on-campus engagements.

Fans will also continue to get Rohden’s YouTube and social media content as she works to fill what she sees as a void in personality-driven, day-to-day content around college football, which continues to grow in national popularity.

That content is “going to maintain the same voice, the same flavor,” Rohden told Awful Announcing.

“College football is the second-largest sport in the country, and it’s really not treated that way in media coverage, in my opinion. Where there’s such an over-saturation with the NFL, and I don’t really feel that way about college football, but the Liberty Bowl will get more views than a huge primetime NBA game.

“So I want to make sure the content is out there for college football fans … commentary, sometimes just saying what’s going on, jokes, all that stuff. Basically, we’re talking ball. That’s all we’re doing.”

LucyCFB will partner with Betches in a deal that will see Rohden host a “new digital format” for the massive, women-focused sports content company as it expands its presence in college football.

“As we continue to grow the Betches Sports ecosystem, partnering with creators who understand our audience is key,” said Betches VP of Sports Kyle Moffatt in a release. “Bringing Lucy into the fold allows us to meet that audience with a voice that’s authentic and built for where fandom is going next.”

Added Rohden: “They have a perfect intersection of culture, comedy, sports and women, which I’m a huge, huge fan of, making this content so it’s a little bit more approachable and digestible for a larger group of people.

“I just feel like our tones really align, and they have such a strong brand presence. Betches is funny, Betches is for the girls, Betches is sports.”

Rohden, who was on Awful Announcing’s list of 2025 top sports influencers and content creators, will also expand her role at Homefield on its Can’t Miss Kickoff Tour as a producer and creator in addition to host and emcee.

Audiences will see Rohden on Homefield’s social media channels and on camera for select on-site events throughout the college football season.

Josh Johns, Homefield VP of marketing partnerships and events, said Rohden is “embedded in college football culture, and we’re excited to continue growing our live event promotions alongside her brand.”

While Rohden believes the media has made strides in producing more consistent and approachable content about college football as more distributors have invested in live rights, she believes that what makes the sport great is the intense passion for it, combined with how “deeply unserious” and oftentimes “made up” it is.

With LucyCFB, Rohden aims to elevate her standing in the ecosystem and become one of the key personalities providing content that truly connects with college football fans.

The post Lucy Rohden launches ‘LucyCFB’ brand, partners with Betches Media and Homefield Apparel appeared first on Awful Announcing.