Are there early signals as to who may take over for Gorman?
Mike Gorman’s recent reiteration that the 2023-24 season will be his last as the Celtics’ television play-byplay voice has led to two predictable reactions:
An outpouring of well-deserved appreciation for Gorman, 77, who has called Celtics games since the 1981-82 season, when he was paired with Tommy Heinsohn on Prism’s telecasts of home games. And irresistible conjecture and speculation on who NBC Sports Boston will choose to replace Gorman once his farewell season is complete.
This much we know: The job is coveted for obvious reasons by established and up-and-coming play-by-play voices alike from all corners of the country. Your friendly neighborhood sports media columnist has been asked by roughly a dozen prospective applicants over the last couple of weeks what NBC Sports Boston’s plans are and how to get a demo in the right hands. I can’t imagine how many NBC Sports Boston execs have already received.
But the network is emphasizing, as it should, Gorman’s final season and the highlights of his Hall of Fame career rather than offering early clues to who might succeed him behind the microphone a season from now.
Still, the speculation is irresistible, which is why Sean Grande’s appearance with host Adam Kaufman on the Celtics Beat podcast recently was so notable.
Grande is an excellent and accomplished NBA broadcaster in his own right. He’s called Celtics games on the radio alongside Cedric Maxwell for 22 years now, and he has plenty of television experience, as well. Grande spent the first three years of his NBA broadcasting career calling Timberwolves games. In recent years, with Gorman significantly cutting back his travel schedule, Grande has slid over to the television side, where he developed an immediate rapport with Brian Scalabrine.
Grande quickly and repeatedly noted that the 2023-24 season is entirely about Gorman. But as the conversation continued, he sounded like someone whose ideal gig would be having both gigs — radio and television.
“Last season was my favorite year,” he said, “Of the 22 I’ve done with the Celtics and maybe the 25 I’ve done in the NBA, last year was my personal favorite because I got to do both and work on both . . . To me it was like the perfect scenario.”
Based on my interactions, the vast majority of fans would approve of Grande becoming the television voice, or even the sole play-by-play voice across both media if that were logistically possible. He noted in the podcast that one benefit to being the radio voice is that you don’t miss out on calling the biggest games, which often happens in the regular season and becomes even more painful for local television broadcasters in the playoffs, when broadcasts become exclusive to the national rightsholder after the first round.
“Being the voice of the Celtics means being the voice of the Celtics,” Grande said. “And are you the voice of the Celtics if you’re not doing all the good games and the playoffs? I don’t know.
“I think you guys know what my goal is. Which is for the Boston Celtics, the most storied franchise in NBA history, to have the best broadcast. Whether it be on the radio side or the TV side, I’m going to do my part to make sure that happens no matter which chair I’m sitting in or wearing makeup or not any given night. So that’s the plan, and when we get to 2024, we see where we go from there.”
Streaming mad
Major League Baseball is in the second year of its deal to stream Friday night games on Apple TV+. It’s going to take a couple more years, it seems, before the majority of viewers get used to it. On Friday, I posted a gentle reminder on the Trash Bin Formerly Known As Twitter that the first game of the Red Sox-Yankees series would be carried on the streaming service. Folks, you were not happy, and yes, I miss the days of Ned, Monty, and Ch. 38, too. The exasperation that MLB has divided up its product among different streamers and networks was understandably palpable. It is frustrating, and it becomes more frustrating when you realize it’s only going to get more splintered. But you know why MLB did it. It’s the same reason it does everything. Stacks and stacks of cash. MLB is getting a reported $85 million per year over the sevenyear life of the contract from Apple. If the volume of complaints from annoyed fans is getting to commissioner Rob Manfred or the owners, they have plenty of noise-canceling cash to stuff in their ears until the yelling subsides. Oh, and one more reminder: The Red Sox game next Friday against the Dodgers — Mookie Betts’s first game in Boston since that ridiculous trade — also will be on Apple TV+.