Thunder searching for new TV voice
For 10 seasons, Brian Davis has been the play-by-play voice of the Thunder on local TV.
He won’t fill that role for an 11th.
The team informed Davis on Friday that his contract won’t be renewed for the 2018-19 season and announced that, in conjunction with Fox Sports Oklahoma, it will “now begin the search for a new play-byplay announcer.”
Davis just completed the final season on a four-year contract. The Thunder offered no comment beyond a team-issued statement saying the club “has made a decision to go in a different direction.”
“We greatly appreciate Brian’s contributions to the Thunder organization over the past 10 years and we wish him well in the future,” the statement read.
Davis did not return a text message from The Oklahoman seeking comment but posted on his Facebook page that coming to Oklahoma City was “the best thing that ever
happened to me” and that he’ll be “forever grateful, especially to (owner) Clay Bennett for asking me to be a part of” Thunder basketball.
He wrote that “there is so much that I’ll miss” and that “I’ll carry with me powerful memories of all the moments — too many to count — which I was blessed to share with the incredible place.”
Davis became a familiar voice over the Thunder’s first 10 seasons in Oklahoma City, with catchphrases including “Thunder on the high side,” his exclamation when the team took a
lead. If a Thunder player made a play when none seemed possible Davis would say he’d “made chicken salad out of chicken something else.”
But Davis’ last season on the job came with some controversy.
In Oklahoma City’s regular-season finale, Davis described Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook as “out of his cotton-picking mind” after an assist. It was a phrase that Thunder vice president of broadcasting and communications Dan Mahoney at the time called “highly inappropriate and offensive.”
Davis was suspended for Game 1 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz. He apologized for the
word choice in a written statement in which he accepted the suspension “with great remorse and humility” and called the suspension “an appropriate consequence for my actions.”
“While unintentional, I understand and acknowledge the gravity of the situation,” Davis said in the release at the time. “I offer my sincere apology and realize that, while I committed a lapse in judgement, such mistakes come with consequences.”
Davis met with the team after the incident, and Westbrook said at the time that “What (Davis) said wasn’t OK,” adding that Davis addressed the players and, “the team has made the decision to
do what they need to do. We just have to move on from it.”
That incident likely played some part in the team’s decision not to renew Davis’ contract, which expires in September. Announcing that decision gives the team time to search for a replacement and Davis the chance to pursue other opportunities.
And so for the first time since the Thunder came to Oklahoma City, the regular local TV voice will be someone other than Davis. The team will not make a change at analyst, a role Michael Cage has filled since 2014.
“It’s been quite the ride,” Davis wrote on Facebook. “Now it’s time to find new adventures.”