Saturday, May 16, 2026

ESPN’s Lisa Salters Missing NBA Finals Game 2 Due to ‘Personal Matter’

Salters is missing Sunday night’s Game 2 due to a personal matter; Jorge Sedano will fill in.

Lisa Salters
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

ESPN/ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters will miss Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Thunder and Pacers.

“Lisa is attending to a personal matter. We send her our best,” ESPN told Front Office Sports in a statement. 

Salters has been involved with the NBA on ESPN and ABC since 2005, and has been the sideline reporter for the NBA Finals since 2022. She also filled in for Michele Tafoya in the role in 2006 when Tafoya was on maternity leave. 

Jorge Sedano will fill in for Salters on ABC for Game 2 Sunday night. Sedano has been serving as the sideline reporter for ESPN’s radio coverage of the Finals. Vanessa Richardson will fill in for Sedano on radio. 

Salters’s partner, Stephanie White, the head coach of the Fever, also missed Saturday night’s game against the Sky, citing personal reasons.

On the Game 2 broadcast, it was disclosed that Salters’s mother is dealing with “serious health issues.”

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