NBA on ESPN Radio
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| Genre | National Basketball Association |
|---|---|
| Running time | 150 minutes (approximate) |
| Country |  USA |
| Home station | ESPN Radio (1996-) |
| Starring | Kevin Calabro Dr. Jack Ramsay Mike Tirico Hubie Brown |
| Air dates | since January 21, 1996 |
The NBA on ESPN Radio is a broadcast of National Basketball Association games on the ESPN Radio network. The program began on January 21, 1996 and the current contract runs through the 2015-2016 season. The coverage can also be heard on ESPN Radio.com and on ESPN Radio's iOS application. Most NBA on ESPN Radio games are also streamed on mobile devices and on the Xbox 360 video game console via the iHeartRadio application, as KTZN, Alaska's ESPN Radio affiliate which streams on iHeartRadio, would sometimes broadcast the games.[1]
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Overview [edit]
As the primary national radio partner of the NBA, ESPN Radio broadcasts games on a weekly basis including some of the league's marquee events:
- Thursday night regular season games.
- Mid-season Sunday afternoon games, which are radio simulcasts of those from ABC, occasional double-headers (since 2004).
- Christmas Day games.
- All Star Game festivities.
- Most of the NBA Playoffs, including all of the Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
Broadcasters [edit]
Since the debut of NBA games on the network, ESPN Radio games have featured the lead broadcast team of Jim Durham on play-by-play and Dr. Jack Ramsay as the color commentator. Other broadcasters have included Kevin Calabro, Brent Musburger, Tim Legler, Howard David, Doug Brown, and Will Perdue. Musburger has called several NBA Finals for ESPN Radio, his last being the 2004 NBA Finals.
In June 2006, ESPN announced that Mike Tirico would replace Jim Durham on NBA Finals games starting in 2007. Initially, Dr. Jack Ramsay said that he would retire.
| “ | Working with [Jim Durham] is a pleasure, he's the best play-by-play guy in the business, and I will miss very much not working with him. But we were not going to work the Finals together, and I didn't want to do it with anybody else. | ” |
Ramsay did not retire; as of the 2008-09 NBA season, he worked regular season games with Durham, until Western Conference Finals. Tirico along with Hubie Brown calls Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals. Ramsay joined them in the 2009 NBA Finals. Durham called the 2010 Finals, as Tirico was on assignment at the World Cup. Tirico did not call either of the conference finals played in 2012 due to other commitments; Durham and Ramsay called the Eastern Conference Finals, while Calabro and Brown called the Western Conference Finals. The Durham-Brown-Ramsay trio called the 2012 NBA Finals. Durham's last assignment was the opening game of the 2012–13 NBA season between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, shortly before his death on November 5.
References [edit]
- Press Release: 2006-07 NBA SEASON ON ESPN BEGINS NOV. 1
- Press Release: NBA ON ESPN RADIO TIPS OFF NOV. 2
- Houston Chronicle: Durham-Ramsay team to sign off after Finals
External links [edit]
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