Mike Breen, longtime voice of Knicks and NBA Finals, now set to call both at once

NEW YORK — Mike Breen’s recent interactions with Knicks fans have gone a little differently than they did during the decades prior.

Breen — a voice of the Knicks since 1991, including for MSG Networks since 1998 — has had a front-row seat for so many of the franchise’s highs and lows, including the 27-year NBA Finals drought that will officially end when Game 1 in San Antonio tips off on Wednesday night.

“I can’t tell you how many fans over the past couple of weeks, when you see them on the street or anywhere, they say, ‘Oh, I’ve waited my whole life for this,’ ” Breen, 65, told the New York Daily News.

“Now, some of them might be 17 years old and haven’t been around for that long, but there are a lot of people, even my age, who don’t really remember the championship years. For them to experience this is special.”

A native of Yonkers, Breen was two weeks away from his ninth birthday when the Knicks won their first title in 1970. He watched again as the Knicks won their second — and still most recent — championship three years later.

“My two favorite players for the Knicks were [Walt] ‘Clyde’ [Frazier] and Dave DeBusschere,” Breen said. “For me, I thought they were the greatest players on Earth. So, that started my love of basketball.”

All of that history makes this year’s Finals unique for the Hall of Famer Breen, who, in addition to his longtime local coverage of the Knicks, has been ESPN and ABC’s lead NBA play-by-play announcer since 2006.

This is set to be the 21st year in a row that Breen calls the NBA Finals on ABC — extending his record for the most Finals broadcasts — but the first time the Knicks have made it there during that stretch.