Hollins takes over as color commentator
10-year NBA veteran fell in love with game by watching Olajuwon
Ryan Hollins had no idea where his career and life would take him, much less any way to predict that on Thursday he would consider himself blessed to be named the television analyst for Rockets games. But at 10 years old, he saw Hakeem Olajuwon, and everything changed.
“That championship Hakeem won, Houston was the team that made me fall in love with basketball,” Hollins said. “As a little boy, to look up and say, ‘Who’s that?’ Me and my dad watched that championship. ‘Dad, who is that? What’s a 2-pointer? What’s a 3-pointer?’ I learned the game of basketball watching the Houston Rockets win a championship.
“Now, it’s come full circle to have the opportunity to be one of the voices of the Houston Rockets. An average, everyday kid has an opportunity like this.”
Hollins was named on Thursday to become the Rockets television analyst, succeeding Matt Bullard in the role on broadcasts along play-by-play broadcaster Craig Ackerman.
Former Rockets player Mario Elie also will have an unspecified role in the broadcasts.
“It’s good to be back home where I belong, in Houston covering my favorite team, the Houston Rockets,” Elie said on Twitter.
Cayleigh Griffin will return as the Rockets’ sideline reporter while Rockets legend and Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy returns for the pregame, halftime and postgame coverage hosted by Kevin Eschenfelder. Matt Thomas, who had been the radio play-by-play announcer for road games, will broadcast home and road games, with Ackerman moving to television for all games following Bill Worrell’s retirement.
Though plans are not finalized, the expectation is that after broadcasting all games from Toyota Center last season, Ackerman and Hollins will be traveling to broadcast home and road Rockets games on site.
Hollins, a 10-year NBA veteran with nine teams, has worked as an analyst for CBS and as a studio analyst for Clippers games, along with work on ESPN and as the co-host of the “Opinionated 7-Footers” podcast.
“I mean, when opportunities come up like this, you don’t pass them by,” Hollins said. “When my name was just first mentioned, I can’t tell you how humbled I was just to be mentioned in such respects. I’m just thankful the opportunity has come my way. I’d like to say God’s great. I don’t think I’m deserving for something this cool. Just an amazing opportunity.
“I’m still kind of pinching myself. I wasn’t the kid with the NBA dad, the pedigree from the eighth grade. I played 10 years in the NBA. I get to be around the NBA in broadcasting. I get to essentially be one of the voices of the Houston Rockets.”
The position opened when AT&T SportsNet did not renew Bullard’s contract after 16 years on the air, with Bullard subsequently taking a position in the Rockets’ front office.
The change is one of many with the Rockets with their dramatically retooled roster, changes that Hollins said makes his start with the team especially exciting.
“A lot of people look at this year as a rebuild, and it is in many respects,” Hollins said. “But I look and see some of the more young and exciting and talented players that we acquired, and to have the opportunity to watch them grow and sit with them and be around them and get to know them on a day-to-day basis is going to be an extremely cool process to be a part of.”