With the start of the basketball season on the horizon, Warner Bros. Discovery welcomed members of its NBA on TNT broadcast team to the TNT Sports studios in Atlanta, Ga. for a special broadcast seminar in early September. The assemblage also implemented members of the NHL on TNT, MLB on TBS and soccer properties on site as well, effectuating camaraderie and synergy across departments.
Part of this two-day conference included an obstacle course with activities pertaining to the different sports, which included analysts and former athletes Pedro Martínez, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal competing. Ernie Johnson, the longtime host of Inside the NBA, addressed the group en masse, along with various commentators and executives across sessions.
Scooter Vertino, senior vice president of production and programming for sports at Warner Bros. Discovery estimates that everyone had not been together since the formation of the new company as a result of a merger finalized in April 2022.
“It is a chore to get everybody under the same roof at the same time, but it was important,” Vertino said. “I think everyone enjoyed their time together.”
Vertino began working as a producer at then-named Turner Sports in 1996 where he was able to regularly work with established industry professionals on its broadcasts of the NBA. Marv Albert, who served as the lead voice of the NBA on TNT for 19 years, was someone that Vertino got to witness firsthand.
Looking at the roster of play-by-play announcers for the NBA on TNT today, Vertino can see Albert’s influence while also identifying distinctive personalities all bound by a common approach to present an informative and entertaining product to the viewer.
Kevin Harlan Meets the Moment
Kevin Harlan has been with the company since 1996 and first started his tenure calling NBA playoff games. When he was first hired by Mike Pearl to join the property, there were several accomplished, veteran announcers on the team from whom he learned, including Verne Lundquist and Dick Stockton. The early experience within the national property was something he regarded as invaluable.
“To be with those guys and be on that roster – and we weren’t doing as many games then either; we were not doing all the games we do now – but we did a lot of them,” Harlan explained, “and I was brought in as an extra hand just could not believe my good fortune and how lucky I was to work with that company and join that roster with Hall-of-Fame broadcasters above me.”
As a production assistant at ESPN, Vertino remembers that everyone would become excited if they were able to log a game with Harlan on the call because of his crescendos and propensity to meet the moment. There would be opportunities to use his calls within highlight packages on shows such as SportsCenter, and it would pervade through the screen to genuinely impact the viewing experience.
“I probably let that fan side of me come out too much, and I hope no one ever feels like it’s manufactured,” Harlan conveyed. “Somebody said, ‘No one could manufacture that kind of energy as many times for as long as you’ve done it,’ and they’re probably right. So I am a fan, and I just think it’s such an honor to be there and doing these games for TNT representing the NBA and calling the great players that I’ve been able to call.”
As a dedicated play-by-play announcer with a proclivity for the sport, Harlan ensures not to get too ahead of himself when it comes to delivering these momentous calls.
“In the NBA, I get to see the most skilled, the lightning-fast, quick-twitch movements and the unbelievable artistry that is the NBA,” Harlan said, “and then I get to do these college games in the tournament where the stakes are so high, the emotions are palpable in the arenas and the passion with which these kids play and the consequence which they look in the eye every single second is so compelling that I can’t help myself but be engrossed in each.”
Harlan understands that the analyst is the star of the broadcast and never tries to make it about himself. In working with him and other play-by-play announcers across the property, Van Gundy tries to use his esoteric knowledge to make an impactful, effective contribution.
“I look at games as a coach, and I get into watching film and looking at the numbers and everything else,” Van Gundy said, “and I write up notes before every broadcast and send them out [to] the play-by-play guy, the producer [and] the sideline reporter and all of that so that they get an idea of at least what I think is important in the game. I think it really ends up helping me more than them.”
Ian Eagle Thrives on a New Stage
Ian Eagle recently completed calling his first Final Four and National Championship Game, succeeding Jim Nantz. While the stakes of the game were higher than other tournament contests he had called previously, he made sure not to change his routine. At the same time, Eagle was in the midst of calling regular-season NBA contests for TNT, along with Brooklyn Nets games locally for YES Network. When he was on-site from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. for the Final Four weekend, Eagle recognized the finality of the proceedings and tried to take in the atmosphere.
“Leading up to the game itself, normally you just head to your broadcast area [and] you’re locked in with your thoughts and your notes and all of your information,” Eagle said. “At the Final Four, I did not have that time to myself. It felt like a receiving line at a wedding, and it was a good thing. People wanting to chat and take pictures and commemorate the experience, so fortunately I’m malleable, and I did not let it affect what I had to do once the game started.”
When Eagle takes the air for a broadcast, he is always looking to present his genuine self to the viewers, something that he did from a young age as the son of a comedian and singer. From the time he was in college at Syracuse University, he wanted to maintain his own identity on the air, and he had enough confidence to perceive that his style would ultimately reverberate with the audience.
“I’ve always viewed this job as twofold – that it’s important that you’re an interesting person because you bring all of the experiences that you’ve had in your life to the airwaves, but you also have to be interested in the people that you’re covering and the people that you’re working with,” Eagle said. “So, I just look at that as a twofold approach to the job, and that’s also just who I am in everyday life. I don’t really change a whole lot of who I am or what I am just because the red light goes on the camera to start the broadcast.”
While the average human attention span continues to diminish, Eagle still sees value in being able to explain things and captivate an audience for an extended period of time.
“I think long-form storytelling is still really important and being able to have a starting point, a middle point and an endpoint, and I do think in this day and age, aggregating has become more and more popular and default mode in many cases,” Eagle said. “Sometimes you’re only getting a little bit of the story based on a headline or based on a fragment of the larger story, and that’s unfortunate, and we’ve all fallen victim to it.”
Brian Anderson Brings Versatility to the Job
Over his years behind the microphone, Brian Anderson has developed a system to determine the way in which he approaches a call. Utilizing a scale ranging from one to 10, he tries to place the moment and determine where his commentary should lie. In this manner, he is able to remain apropos with his volume, intonation and urgency. Especially during the spring where March Madness precedes the NBA Playoffs combined with the start of the MLB season, it is essential to rest, recover and retain stamina.
“Stan Van Gundy and I were gone 15 straight days last year doing games basically every other day during that window last season in the first round of the playoffs, so it is important that you just maintain your mental wellbeing,” Anderson said. “For me, that means grabbing a meal with my co-workers. I don’t like to isolate in my room – that feels very depressing to me – so sometimes we will just reach out and try to meet up with people in the particular cities we’re going [to] and rekindle friendships.
“We all stay in touch a little bit, even just quick texts to each other; to those play-by-play guys during the year so you maintain a relationship a little bit, but those guys are so good,” Van Gundy said. “I think what they all do is they really take responsibility for the broadcast, and they try to help guys like me out and make our jobs easy, and it’s the same thing just in terms of chemistry.”
Over the course of the season, Anderson is in constant communication with his counterparts at TNT Sports, which allows him to seamlessly work in different setups. Lead reporter Allie LaForce has had the chance to work with many play-by-play announcers within the property over the years and can ascertain the close-knit relationship among the team.
“The energy and the togetherness,” LaForce said when asked about the distinctiveness of the announcing team. “I think for every play-by-play announcer we have, for as great as they are on the air, they’re even greater as human beings and teammates.”
In the national windows during the regular season and playoffs though, there is a consistent lead-in of Inside the NBA that precedes these broadcasts. With Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny “The Jet” Smith, the quartet encompasses a longstanding, eminent and award-winning sports studio program. All four personalities inked contract extensions with TNT Sports in October 2022 to keep the show together, which has become a fixture in and of itself within the NBA on TNT property.
“You couldn’t ask for a better lead-in,” Harlan said. “They’re historic – they’re going to be talked about for decades and decades to come. They’ll be talking about this foursome forever, so what more could you ask for?”
“It’s a beautiful thing that TNT Sports has cultivated in all of us,” Anderson added. “It really starts with Ernie Johnson, I would say. Our bosses are amazing, but they’re still not broadcasters. Ernie’s the guy who really establishes the culture in our family and our network, and because he’s so great and so amazing, we all follow his lead and we all just kind of do that too.”
Spero Dedes Is in for the Long Haul
Just as the commentators on Inside the NBA all bring their unique perspectives and insights to the air, the play-by-play roster encapsulates depth, latitude and versatility. Spero Dedes, who has been a member of the company since 2015 and came in with a plethora of broadcasting experience in major markets, understands Harlan being able to meet the moment, Eagle’s gift to infuse humor in the broadcast and Anderson’s amiability that comes through on the air. Within his broadcasts, he looks to compliment the overall portfolio by performing to the best of his ability and successfully implement his analyst(s) and reporter(s).
“We all have a distinct way in which we do the game and approach the game, and I think for a viewer, that’s a positive,” Dedes said. “…You now are put at ease because you know that this game will be well-covered. When you’re breaking in on play-by-play, that’s the biggest hurdle.”
“We don’t sound the same,” Eagle added. “It’s not a homogenized version of a play-by-play announcer. We all have a distinct way in which we do the game and approach the game, and I think for the viewer, that’s a positive.”
As a broadcaster, Dedes affirms that he has traditionally gravitated towards announcers with big voices, such as Pat Summerall when he was growing up and Al Michaels. At the same time, he enjoyed hearing theatrics in the memorable calls, plenty of which he has heard narrated by his colleagues at TNT Sports.
The exclusive negotiating period between the NBA and its television rightsholders – Warner Bros. Discovery and The Walt Disney Company – ended earlier in the week without an official contract. Various reports, however, have indicated that both companies have the right to match any offer that comes from a third party and that significant progress was made in the discussions.
“I want to call NBA games as long as I can,” Dedes said. “I’d love to be a part of this team for as long as they’ll have me, and I hope TNT signs a 100-year contract with the NBA – that’s what I’m hoping.”
“I think there is a direct correlation and association with TNT and our personalities and how much fun we have also calling the moment in the game in a newsworthy fashion that the viewers are comfortable with and look forward to,” LaForce added. “[That allows them] to take their mind off of their everyday grind and just live in a moment of freedom and fun and excitement.”
Dedes believes that most fans of the NBA have some sort of connection to TNT Sports over the years through its various iterations and that the partnership means something to the league itself. Warner Bros. Discovery will continue to air NBA games through at least next season, with the outcome beyond that point yet to be determined.
“I just feel like the branding is so deep and the history is so deep of this network and its affiliation with the NBA,” Dedes said.
“They’re synonymous with one another – that’s the reality within NBA broadcast circles,” Eagle added. “It’s like peanut butter and jelly – it just goes together, the NBA on TNT.”
The TNT Sports team possesses a willingness to move beyond what is comfortable and try new things. Through it all, those within the NBA on TNT support one another and work to thrive both in the present moment and down the road courtside, placing the spotlight on the players, coaches and teams that compete on the hardwood.
“We are willing to fail if that makes sense,” Vertino said. “We are willing to take chances because we know that if you take five chances, they’re not all going to succeed. But if you get the one or the two – that’s it – let’s get our field-goal attempts so that we’ve got a better chance of scoring.”
Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, email Derek@BarrettMedia.com or find him on X @derekfutterman.
