#COLOR COMMENTATOR VS PLAY BY PLAY PROFESSIONAL#

#COLOR COMMENTATOR VS PLAY BY PLAY PROFESSIONAL#

So who are those announcers? Like most professional sports, the NBA has had the fortune of being associated with some of the industry’s best play-by-play voices.

The biggest moments, many of which come accompanied with the call from some of the industry’s best announcers, are etched in our minds forever. We love the game for the action on the court, the drama of a tight contest late in the fourth quarter and the excitement of a budding superstar having a career night on the brightest stage. Who among us doesn't dunk a crumpled piece of paper into the recycling with 'no regard for human life'? What kid didn't grow up shooting hoops in the driveway and mimicking Marv Albert’s “Yesss.and it counts” every time the imaginary clock in his head wound down to one second to go with the game on the line? Is it possible that Charles Barkley is more important to the game of basketball as a studio analyst than he was as a Hall of Fame player? Where would Chick Hearn rank in terms of important members of the Los Angeles Lakers organization?

Perhaps in the NBA more than any other major American sport, the announcers have been as much a part of the game as the players. The NBA has long been a star-driven league, from the days of Wilt and Russell, to the era of Larry, Magic and Michael, to more modern times of Shaq, Kobe, AI and the current generation of King James’ reign.

Color commentator vs play by play