When you polish off a 16-year NBA career that spans six franchises and five cities, you wind up with a lot of second homes. Some, though, are homier than others.
Antawn Jamison’s time with the Wizards ended in chaos and disappointment, but before that came some of the best times of his professional life. He made two all-star games in Washington. He went to the playoffs four times. Three of his four kids were born here. And he was the grown-up leader on a Wizards team that, a decade later, continues to resonate in this town.
“When I look back over my career, the place that kind of molded me not just as a player but as a man and as a human being — it all came from Washington,” Jamison said in a recent conversation. “I enjoyed life the most when I was in D.C. No matter how many years down the road, I can always go back to D.C. and just feel like this is family. All the things that happened there come back. I had the best time of my whole 16-year career when I was there in D.C. It’s always going to be a second home.”
Where better, then, to launch the next stage of his broadcasting career? And who better to do it with than Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier, the same men he used to visit in the back of the plane during Washington road trips?
Jamison will join CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Wizards broadcast team 15 times over the remainder of this season: 10 times as an analyst on the pregame and postgame shows, and five times as an in-game analyst alongside Buckhantz and Chenier. Jamison has done studio work for Lakers games in recent seasons, and that work will continue. But this new in-game color job, which starts Wednesday night when the Wizards host the Lakers, is an experiment whose location feels just about perfect.
“It’s ideal,” Jamison said. “You always wonder: how would it feel, after I’m done playing, to be in that position? Getting an opportunity to call games for probably the closest team to my heart — the one team that no matter what I want to be successful and I pull for — and to do it with those two guys is going to be unbelievable. It’s just going to bring back a lot of great, fond memories.”
Read more at the Washington Post where this article was originally published
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
