ESPN’s Lisa Salters wasn’t part of the Game 2 broadcast team for the NBA Finals on Sunday night, although she was scheduled to be.
The sideline reporter didn’t make it to work ahead of the clash between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, with the network disclosing before tipoff that she was out dealing with a personal matter.
Salters covers the NBA and NFL for ESPN and ABC and has been doing this for a long time.
Unfortunately, she could not work the sidelines for the second game of the series, which is now tied 1-1.
“Lisa is attending to a personal matter. We send her our best,” the network said in a statement.
Mike Breen: "[Lisa Salters'] mom has been dealing with some serious health issues for a while now… Although we've never met her mom, we owe her a debt of gratitude for giving us the gift of Lisa Salters, who is the teammate everyone in our business should strive to have." 🎙️❤️ pic.twitter.com/7YJHlKfiwh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 9, 2025
Colleague Mike Breen shed a little more light on the situation during the game, revealing that Lisa’s mother has been dealing with serious health complications, hence her absence.
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“[Lisa Salters’] mom has been dealing with some serious health issues for a while now… Although we’ve never met her mom, we owe her a debt of gratitude for giving us the gift of Lisa Salters, who is the teammate everyone in our business should strive to have,” Breen said.
Lisa Salters’ Status For Game 3 Unknown
Salters has been with The Worldwide Leader in Sports for over 25 years. She started as a general assignment reporter at the network in March 2000 and later became a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football and the NBA on ABC.
She’s currently in a relationship with Indiana Fever head coach Stephie White, who also took a leave of absence and returned to practice on Monday.
As to whether Lisa Salters will be back for Game 3 on Wednesday night is still unknown. Should she remain absent, Jorge Sedano will take her place on the sidelines.
