Eric Collins may be the most excitable announcer working in sports today. But while he does have a lot of fans out there in the NBA universe, Barstool Sports head honcho Dave Portnoy is not one of them.
Collins has gone viral many times for his intense calls where it sounds like his head might explode any minute with his brain matter spilling all over the announce table. When calling Charlotte Hornets games on a night-in and night-out basis, he makes the games entertaining. Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons called him the best NBA League Pass watch.
But Dave Portnoy probably isn’t grinding NBA League Pass to hop on board the Eric Collins hype train.
Collins was on the play-by-play call for Amazon Prime Video’s coverage of a pivotal Game 3 in the Celtics-Sixers series. And as a Celtics fan, Portnoy did not like what he was hearing. He posted a video on social media with a typical Collins reaction to a third quarter three-pointer and shared how it was “unacceptable announcing” because he was acting like every shot was to decide a Finals Game 7.
This may be the worse annoucing crew I’ve ever heard. They are going bananas every shot. #celticsvssixers pic.twitter.com/WD4bh2tYn3
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 25, 2026
“What are we doing… every shot he’s acting like it’s Game 7 at the horn to win it. This is unacceptable announcing,” Portnoy said.
First of all, it’s awful announcing, Dave. Unacceptable announcing just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Portnoy wasn’t alone in his criticism of the voice of the Hornets. Naturally, he saved his biggest reaction for Jayson Tatum’s game-clinching three in the closing seconds that gave the Celtics a six-point lead.
OH MY GOODNESS🤯 pic.twitter.com/MQYcRrFfjy
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 25, 2026
The only announcer that really comes to mind who you can compare Eric Collins to is Gus Johnson, but even these days sometimes Gus is hit or miss when it comes to his bombastic reactions to big plays. But at least this time Collins kept it within an acceptable octave range and probably won’t have to apologize to Portnoy, unlike Johnson’s famous call of Omar Cooper’s acrobatic catch for Indiana against Penn State.
Given his unique style, Eric Collins probably isn’t for everybody. If you’re a basketball fan who is familiar with his game, you probably loved getting him hear to call a big playoff game after calling so many Hornets losses over the years. But if you were a casual fan or a Celtics/Sixers fan looking for something a little more traditional in your NBA broadcast, you were out of luck on Friday night.
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