MATT THOMAS
Radio veteran enjoying his new dual role with Rockets.
Matt Thomas hasn’t suited up, made a shot or recorded an assist for the Rockets this season. However, it would be hard to find anybody associated with the 2016-17 Rockets who’s enjoying this season more than the multitasking Thomas. For home games, he’s the public address announcer, part information purveyor and part hype man. For road games, he’s living a lifelong dream as the radio play-byplay broadcaster. The veteran of the Houston airwaves is indeed in tall cotton. “I’m just having the time of my life,” the 44-year-old Thomas said.
Coming full circle
The Mayde Creek High School and University of Houston alumnus is in his second tour with the Rockets. For three seasons from 199396 — including both NBA championship campaigns — he was their PA man. He parlayed that stint into a PA gig at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
He left the Rockets to take on the UH basketball play-byplay gig before moving to the same role at Rice. Then came stops in Minneapolis and Salt Lake City before making his way back to Houston in 2010 and once again calling UH games.
Six years later, the Rockets asked him to come back to his old PA role. Thomas said that as much as he loves the Rockets, he loved doing basketball play-by-play even more, so he wasn’t keen on giving up his UH gig.
He ended up getting something he’d always desired after veteran Rockets TV broadcaster Bill Worrell scaled back his number of road games. That meant moving Craig Ackerman from the radio side to TV for road games. The domino effect saw Thomas offered the road radio job.
“You put that combination together and it was something I couldn’t refuse,” Thomas said. “I’ve always loved doing play-by-play and (the NBA) is the pinnacle. … It wasn’t like I was asking for a job or sending out tapes. It’s not that it fell in my lap, but the stars aligned.”
‘It’s never boring’
Thomas’ first NBA play-byplay experience came amid
Having a front-row seat for James Harden’s memorable season has made his second Rockets stint a blast for Matt Thomas, bottom left. Karen Warren photos / Houston Chronicle
tragedy, as he filled in for a handful of games after Ackerman’s parents were killed in a car accident in March 2013.
This time, the circumstances are much better.
The Rockets have been near the top of the Western Conference standings all season playing a fast-paced brand of basketball under first-year coach Mike D’Antoni.
“I’ve never said so many words in my life in such a short period of time,” Thomas said. “It moves very, very quickly.
“The 3-point shots never cease to amaze me — the number that are made and the number that are taken — but I’ll get just as excited about a Clint Capela alleyoop or a James Harden dribble-drive. … I never thought I’d have as much fun.”
As someone who was around during the team’s heyday, Thomas said he saw some parallels between the 1994-95 championship squads and this year’s team — a dominant superstar and coach popular among the players.
“Those players love Mike and I think those players in 1994-95 loved Rudy (Tomjanovich),” Thomas said. “You never get the sense if there are any problems, that they never linger. If you’re with these (players) all year long, there are going to be nights with ‘What were you thinking?’ or ‘What are you doing?’ That hasn’t been the case. Mike is just so low-key and he has that been there, done that. I think the players know that.
“Mike’s been around and he knows what that kind of crap can do to split up teams. I’ve just been very pleasantly surprised at how everybody gets along, and that’s on and off the court.”
‘This really isn’t work’
Thomas’ Rockets duties are only part of what fills his plate. He also co-hosts the “Proper Gentlemen of Sports” morning show with Lance Zierlein on KBME-AM (790) from 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays.
It makes for some long days, with a 4:30 a.m. wakeup call and days with Rockets home games seeing him get home after 10 p.m. But for Thomas, those are good problems to have.
“People ask, ‘How do you handle the work schedule?’ and I’m like, ‘This really isn’t work,’” Thomas said. “I take great naps and I get to work on the radio every day in one of the largest media markets in the country and talk sports. And I have a night job where I get to travel, call NBA games and see the greatest players on earth.”
Tackling his Rockets radio role and his talk show make for an interesting balancing act. Thomas said he’s gotten no blowback from Rockets when he’s been critical of their play on his show, saying “the team hasn’t said word one.”
And then there is the physical demand. After roughly 3½ hours of sleep following the season-opening loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles, he was on his morning show “because I felt it was important to be on the radio that day.”
It gets even more interesting when the times the Rockets play single weekday road games and get home in the wee hours, such as a 2 a.m. return after the Feb. 9 win at Charlotte.
“I have an air mattress at the station that I pump up and I’ll sleep at the radio station,” Thomas said. “I’ve done that 15 times this year.
“That’s not premium, it’s not preferred, but strangely enough, I feel like some of my best shows have been on days like that. I wouldn’t want to do that five days a week.
“I have a great wife (Kimberly) who’s very understanding. My radio partner Lance has been very accommodating as well and the station and team have been great.”
For Thomas, it’s all part of what’s been a most enjoyable time in his career.
“It’s such a fun experience,” he said. “Being on the arena floor and calling out the names and then getting on the road and describing what’s going on. It’s a really fun combination.
“I’m enjoying this ride. I don’t want it to end.”