Marv Albert called is final game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The broadcast legend turns 80 on June 12, and has announced that he will retire once his play-by-play duties for TNT are over during this year’s NBA Playoffs.
Albert has had a long association with the Garden and the teams that call it home, starting in 1967 when he became the voice of the New York Knicks. In fact, the return to calling games in person for Albert was largely about getting to be in that building one more time. It was special to him. It was special to fans. Apparently though, it was not special to the team. The New York Knicks did not pay tribute to Albert at all during the evening.
Marc Berman of The New York Post writes that the snub was part of long running bad blood between Albert and Knicks owner James Dolan.
Albert chose not to focus on what did not happen. When Berman asked about the lack of a video tribute, Albert responded with compliments on Madison Square Garden’s recent upgrades.
“I didn’t think about it,” the broadcast legend said. “I was amazed how they’ve renovated the Garden and how spectacular it is now.”
The dispute between Dolan and Albert goes back to 2004. It is why Albert decided to leave his role as the voice of the team on MSG Networks. He would go on to call games for the Nets on YES before devoting himself fully to TNT’s national coverage.
Fans will still be able to see and hear Albert on TNT through the end of the Eastern Conference Finals. His history makes it clear though that nothing in his final season will be as sentimental a moment as what he experienced Wednesday. In addition for working for the team for nearly 40 years, over two different stints, Albert is also a Brooklyn native and has a home in Manhattan’s SoHo district.
“It was just wonderful to be in an actual building with live players and crowd,’’ Albert told The Post. “And it brought back a lot of memories for me. It turned out what we hoped for in a telecast. A great game to do, a tremendous night.”
Knicks and their fans don’t realize it yet, but soon they will be a lottery team. Thibs will run that team into the ground.