NBC Sports Boston signs Brian Scalabrine to multi-year extension to serve as lead Celtics analyst

https://news.yahoo.com/nbc-sports-boston-signs-brian-173029213.html



NBC Sports Boston signs Brian Scalabrine to multi-year extension to serve as lead Celtics analyst


NBC Sports Boston

Fri, June 25, 2021, 1:30 PM·3 min read



NEEDHAM, MA. – (June 25, 2021) – NBC Sports Boston today announced Brian Scalabrine will continue to serve as lead analyst for its live-game coverage of the Boston Celtics as part of a multi-year contract extension.

Scalabrine, a former Celtics forward who spent 11 seasons in the NBA as a player, will serve as the game analyst for every Celtics game on NBC Sports Boston alongside play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman, a role he began for the 2020-21 season following the passing of legendary analyst and former Celtics player and coach Tommy Heinsohn. He originally joined NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics announcing team for the 2015-16 NBA season.


“Brian’s knowledge and passion for the Celtics and NBA adds great value to our game productions and Celtics related content across all of the NBC Sports Boston platforms, said Kevin Miller, VP of Content Creation and Strategy, NBC Sports Boston. “We’re excited to have Scal remain on our team for years to come.”

In addition to analysis, Scalabrine will contribute to Celtics Pregame Live & Postgame Live, Celtics Post-Up, and other NBC Sports Boston content across all of the NBC Sports Boston broadcast and digital platforms.


Bob
MY NOTE:  We got the sugar with the announcement of Ime Udoka as the new coach.  Now we just got fed the castor oil. No good deed goes unpunished...


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Crap!

worcester wrote:I saw a video of Scal yesterday. He looked to be san paku. White under his iris. Is he a serious dope smoker? Or did I see it wrong?

I just scanned through about 20 pics of him. In playing days, no san paku. Starting last year, san paku.

https://www.tofugu.com/japan/sanpaku/

My eyes are so beady I'm probably Sans Paku.

When I eat, I sometimes forget to close my mouth when chewing. Then I'm Paku Paku.


Bob


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Oh no!! What a mistake, listening to this clown repeat
“ I have no idea” is going to be excruciating

Yippee!! Bench warming Brian, Mr. “I don’t know” replaces a Celtic Icon.
FML!

On the flip side Scal was a Boston fan favorite and Boston takes care of it’s own. Scal is nothing like Tommy, and that’s the way it should be. Anyone similar to Tommy would come off as a poor imitation. Mike will be even harder to replace.

His biggest problem is he just does not know when to stop talking, and, acts like he knows the rule book back and forward. Mistakes are prominent in his opinions of plays and rule calls. I just hope one thing.....this does not lead to him eventually taking over for Mike. He is no play by play guy. Mike signed a 3 year contract during the playoffs or the end of the season, after that??? He is getting up there, taking games off is written in his contract. I bet no travelling. So.....who does play by play when he does not travel It has been easy this year, they did everything in the studio. They scrambled when Mike got sick, grabbing whoever they could. Mannix is an ego maniac, but he does know basketball. I just hope he is not easing his way in.

NBC/TV SPORTS BOSTON is a very weak station. They shove Phil Perry in there at times, he is not a basketball guy at all, and is annoying. So does this mean Abby Chin is staying in that job as lead ontoo much pregame and postgame. Sorry, she does not do it for me, but I guess better than nothing.

it is sad that the Celtics lost control of picking and choosing who does their games For years, the announcers were under the control of the Celtics. I believe that stopped when they signed with NBC and 98.5 radio.

Oh well, nothing you can do about it. If I really can't stand it I will just flip on my radio and listen to Grande, he is terrific

So much for my hope we will get Paul Pierce any day soon instead of Scal's droning.

NYCelt wrote:On the flip side Scal was a Boston fan favorite and Boston takes care of it’s own. Scal is nothing like Tommy, and that’s the way it should be. Anyone similar to Tommy would come off as a poor imitation. Mike will be even harder to replace.

NY, I’ve not seen a study as to exactly how popular Scal is with the fan base but I’m sure he has a strong following amongst a certain segment. Just how strong is the question. Whether NBC/C’s conducted a study is another question. I’m going to guess not and maybe I’m wrong. I’m basing that on what I’m seeing of some of the talent that they’ve hired in the last year or two. Again, I could be dead wrong.

Now, as far as Scal>>Tommy, of course there can only be one Tommy and that his not the comparison I was trying to make.
My comparison is based on competency and as a broadcaster, Scal is not close to being on Tommy’s level. I could give numerous examples as to why he’s not but hopefully see the point I was trying make.
Agree, we don’t need a poor imitation of Tommy, we just need someone that brings as much in-site or more to the game. Scal falls well short of that IMO.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:His biggest problem is he just does not know when to stop talking, and, acts like he knows the rule book back and forward.  Mistakes are prominent in his opinions of plays and rule calls.  I just hope one thing.....this does not lead to him eventually taking over for Mike.  He is no play by play guy. Mike signed a 3 year contract during the playoffs or the end of the season, after that??? He is getting up there, taking games off is written in his contract. I bet no travelling. So.....who does play by play when he does not travel  It has been easy this year, they did everything in the studio.  They scrambled when Mike got sick, grabbing whoever they could.  Mannix is an ego maniac, but he does know basketball.  I just hope he is not easing his way in.

NBC/TV SPORTS BOSTON  is a very weak station.  They shove Phil Perry in there at times, he is not a basketball guy at all, and is annoying.  So does this mean Abby Chin is staying in that job as lead ontoo much  pregame and postgame.  Sorry,  she does not do it for me, but I guess better than nothing.

it is sad that the Celtics lost control of picking and choosing who does their games  For years, the announcers were under the control of the Celtics. I believe that stopped when they signed with NBC and 98.5 radio.

Oh well, nothing you can do about it. If I really can't stand it I will just flip on my radio and listen to Grande, he is terrific

I don’t think you have to concern yourself with Scal taking over PbyP when Mike retires. TV/Radio generally hire ex-players for their insite into the game. It’s very rare that they ascend to PbyP. They really have to be exceptional like a Pat Summeral and those kind don’t come around very often. I’m hoping that its Sean Grande but we shall see.

Looks like Abby got the gig. I’m not crazy about the job she does as an anchor. She’s very subpar imo. As a court side reporter I think she does a pretty good job.

I don’t know if the team is still involved in the hiring process or not. If not, the positive to that is that you do get more objective opinion. The downside to that is that most fans, including myself don’t care for objective opinion during a broadcast. I loved Johnny Most and Tommy’s Homer approach on ‘local’ broadcasts.

gyso wrote:I don't if Paul Pierce would want to spend the hours it would take to work for the local station.

That being said, who do we think would be a good replacement for Mike?  Someone from the past with Celtics ties, but not star level?

Someone like IT? Waltah?  Leon Poe?

I like Sean Grande. The folks you mentioned are players and they usually are hired as game analysts. It’s very very rare that they are hired to do Play By Play.