Hubie Brown and Mike Tirico on Brown's final NBA broadcast on Feb. 9, 2025. Hubie Brown and Mike Tirico on Brown’s final NBA broadcast on Feb. 9, 2025. (Awful Announcing on X.)
ESPNNBANBCBy Andrew Bucholtz on

It’s unusual to see a broadcaster for one sports network appear on a competitor’s broadcast. But NBC’s Mike Tirico did just that on ABC’s coverage of the Philadelphia 76ers-Milwaukee Bucks game Sunday, joining that broadcast remotely to salute retiring 91-year-old ESPN/ABC analyst Hubie Brown in his final game.

That even caused Tirico (who worked for ESPN and ABC from 1991-2016) to post on X for the first time since December, about how much he enjoyed his 10 years calling games with Brown:

And ESPN president (content) Burke Magnus also made an X post of his own to thank Tirico:

The final-game broadcast also saw countless other tributes to Brown’s remarkable five-plus decades around the NBA. That included everything from an opening montage to players approaching him to an arena board tribute to interviews with fellow ESPN announcers Dave Pasch and Mark Jones to a reminiscence with game partner Mike Breen, an exchange with Bucks’ coach (and former ABC/ESPN broadcaster) Doc Rivers, the presentation of the game ball to him afterwards, and a tribute video from a ton of notable colleagues:

And there was quite the final signoff here:

Brown certainly has had an amazing career. He coached high school, college, ABA, and NBA basketball from 1955-86, then returned to the NBA from 2002-04, but started broadcasting in 1981 with USA and CBS after being fired by the Atlanta Hawks. He returned to the NBA coaching ranks with the New York Knicks the next year, but kept doing some broadcasting with CBS, including for the 1985 playoffs.

After Brown’s Knicks’ career ended in 1986, he made a fuller pivot to broadcasting with first CBS then TNT, then returned to coaching the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-04, then joined ESPN and ABC for more broadcasting. And he left an incredible mark across networks, as those tributes show. He’ll certainly be missed on NBA calls.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz