Marv Albert Inducted in 1996
Marv Albert - Class of 1996
A Brooklyn native, Marv Albert got his start as a ball boy for the New York Knicks, and worked his first game as the team’s broadcaster on January 27, 1963, filling in for his mentor Marty Glickman (Class of 1992) on WCBS Radio. By the 1967 season, Albert was appointed the full-time voice of the Knicks on radio and TV (at the time, most of the games were not televised). In all likelihood, his most famous call was the hobbled Willis Reed’s return to action in the final game of the 1970 championship series.
Albert studied at Lincoln High School in Coney Island, where he would regularly practice calling games into a tape recorder. While attending Syracuse University, he served as the voice of the local Triple-A baseball team. By virtue of his flair for the dramatic, ear for the perfect expression, and well-timed bursts of humor, the “Marvelous one” went onto to become the lead announcer for national NBA broadcasts on NBC and TNT. The nearly ubiquitous Gotham sportscaster also did NFL, MLB, and NHL work, among a bevy of other fields. Moreover, he had a popular athletic bloopers segment on Late Night with David Letterman. Roughly 37 years after landing the Knicks job, the NYC product was let go by the franchise’s owner, James Dolan, for criticizing the team’s play on the air.
Over the course of his expansive career, Albert shared the booth with a host of prominent figures. A short list of NBA partners includes John Andariese (Class of 2009), Walt Frazier, and Mike Fratello (“the Czar of the Telestrator”). From a basketball standpoint, Albert is perhaps best known for the expression “yes,” with which he indicated a made hoop; most notably, “Yes and it counts and the foul!” Other catchphrases were “Oh as he hears it from the crowd;” “from way downtown;” “called for the hack,” “putting on the speed,” and “extensive garbage time.” His brothers, Al and Steve, also enjoyed long broadcasting careers, while his son Kenny is currently in the ‘family business.’
Marv Albert was enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, after joining the ranks of NYC's Greatest as a Contributor in 1996.
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