Longtime Boston Celtics radio play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman plans to make the upcoming NBA season his last behind the microphone.
Gorman was profiled by The Athletic, chronicling his journey from suffering a detached retina earlier this year. Wanting to go out on his own terms, Gorman committed to retiring after the 2023-24 campaign.
“If I had to pin myself down, I would say, ‘Yeah, next year will probably be my last year,'” said Gorman. “If we were looking at the roster from the ’90s right now, I’d be saying, ‘I’m done.’ But this team has a chance to win a championship and I’d just like to be around for that.”
But the decision to hang up the headset has been one he’s been wrestling with for the better part of three years. He first started contemplating retirement when longtime broadcast partner Tommy Heinsohn became ill and passed away in 2020.
“The main time I was thinking about leaving was when it was obvious that Tommy was not going to be able to work much longer and then he passed,” Gorman said. “A big part of me said, ‘Maybe I should pass with him and leave Mike and Tommy in the past.’
“But then I thought about the time when Tommy was sick and I asked (him), ‘What do you think I should do?'” Gorman added. “And he said, ‘Don’t go anywhere. Keep doing this. You and (Brian) Scalabrine will be OK.’ If Tommy thinks I should stay, I’ll stay and see how it plays out.”
Gorman, who will make the 2023-24 season his 42nd calling games, is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer by virtue of receiving the Curt Gowdy Award in 2021.
Mike said competitive basketball is what has kept him in it over these last few years.
“There are times when I say it’s time to leave and then there’s times when we play a really good game and I say I’m not going anywhere,” Gorman said. “Bad teams, I don’t really want to be there. Some of these teams, like the Orlando Magic, are pretty fun because they’ve got some young players. Indiana Pacers, if I never saw the Indiana Pacers again, I’d be fine. Detroit Pistons, if I never saw them again, it would be OK with me.”
