“I’m doing well,” ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke told her colleague and fellow sports icon, journalist Adrian Wojnarowski, on the Mar. 27 episode of his podcast, The Woj Pod. Doris, 54, revealed that she tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus earlier in the month. However, she said that she was recovering and “doing quite well now, to be perfectly honest with you.” She said she noticed the first symptoms on Mar. 11, hours before a game between the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks. She felt better after taking an aspirin but said the symptoms returned the next day.
“By the time Saturday the 14th hit, Adrian, I was so tired that I… if I tried to get out of bed from Saturday, the 14th, through Tuesday, Mar. 17, St. Patrick’s Day, I kid you not. I could not be out of bed for more than five minutes without needing to go back to bed and lay down,” she said, according to For The Win. She went to a hospital in Philadelphia to get tested and got the results eight days later. Doris, who says she’s feeling better now, called everyone she had come in contact during her travels to alert them of possible contamination.
“I cannot begin to express to you the feeling of gratitude I have for [my] health,” she added, “and the concern that I just would want people to know it’s important to social distance, and to continue to function with all good practices of handwashing, wiping down surfaces. Whatever your trusted medical professionals are telling you, please, please follow those.”
Ok Doris Burke is where I draw the line. COVID has gone TOO FAR!
— speedy morman (@SpeedyMorman) March 27, 2020
The news had people freaking out online. “NOT DORIS.” “CORONAVIRUS HAS GONE TOO FAR. NOT DORIS BURKE.” “Oh hell nah covid got my lord and savior Doris Burke?? You done messed up rona.” The outpouring of love for Doris was immense, so here’s the scoop on why she’s every basketball fan’s (including Drake’s) favorite.
1. She’s a legendary sports reporter. Doris began her broadcasting career analyzing women’s basketball games on the radio for Providence College. She started working on television that same year, reporting on Big East women’s basketball and eventually began analyzing men’s Big East in 1996. After working as the top analyst for the WNBA on ESPN, she transitioned into a sideline reporter for the NBA on ESPN and ABC. Since 2009, she has served as a sideline reporter for the NBA Finals for ABC Sports. It’s no understatement to say that Doris Burke is a beloved member of the basketball world, which is why so many fans were worried when she came down with coronavirus.
2. She played basketball in college. It makes sense that Doris is an expert in the sport of bball — she was a point guard for Manasquan High School, then played for the Providence Friars in college! When she left Providence College, she was the school’s all-time assists leader and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1999.
3. She has a family. Doris married Gregg Burke in 1989 and gave birth to two children in 1993 and 1995. However, the pair eventually divorced.
4. She’s a multi-award winner. Doris won USA Today’s Rudy Award for being the Best New Face in Sports Television in 2003. Providence College gave her an honorary doctorate degree in 2005, and she was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall Of Fame and North Providence Hall Of Fame one year later. The NCAA awarded her with the Silver Anniversary Award in 2012.
Doris Burke has WHATpic.twitter.com/HwRyiRZ2cP
— /r/spurs (@redditspurs) March 27, 2020
5. She’s Drake’s ‘Woman Crush Everyday.’ During the 2016 edition of the Toronto Raptors’ “Drake Night,” Drizzy wore a special shirt emblazoned with Doris’s face on it. He even took his shot. “My inspiration is Doris. I think she is a stunning woman, incredible at what she does,” the rapper gushed. “I wish she was here tonight, just sending my love to her. I love Doris with all my heart, so hopefully, she knows she’s woman crush every day, so that’s why I wore this shirt. Let her know — dinner at my house, any time. As long as she comes alone!” Following such a proposal, Doris went to Twitter to accept the offer with a heart emoji.