He recently called his first Super Bowl, and he’s currently in Milan-Cortina hosting the Winter Olympics, but once he’s done with all that, NBC announcer Mike Tirico will be back on the sidelines calling NBA games.
When he does, the prolific broadcaster will be putting forth the lessons he learned from the very best to ever do it: Marv Albert.
During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show this past week, Tirico credited the Hall of Fame announcer for setting the tone and shaping the approach of an entire generation of NBA announcers who followed him.
Checking in from Italy, the @NBCSports voice went down memory lane about the @SportsCenter days, fresh with an epic 1997 team photo:#Olympics pic.twitter.com/05imQ46CNW
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) February 19, 2026
“You have Mike Breen, Ian Eagle, myself… There’s so many other good people who do the NBA at ESPN, Dave Pasch, Mark Jones, and everybody else, I’m not just picking out anyone, but just the guys who we’re familiar with, and to be back in the group of lead guys with Mike and Ian,” said Tirico. “We are all disciples of Marv. And there are pieces of the style of how Marv called the game in our own personality that in all three of us, you can hear.”
From 1967 to 2004, Albert was the voice of the New York Knicks and also worked as the lead announcer for both the NBA on NBC and NBA games on TNT. He was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2015.
Tirico, who likened Albert’s influence to the Bill Walsh coaching tree in the NFL, said that Albert was way more than just catchphrases and game-winning calls. He had a command of the “30,000-foot approach” and an ability to “make a big moment of big moments” in an authentic way. He also added that West Coast broadcasters are similarly influenced by longtime Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn.
Tirico, the 2025 Awfulies winner for best play-by-play announcer, added that while he leaned into what he learned from Albert, he also learned to evolve his approach rather than emulate him.
“Steal what you think is great, but do it in your personality,” Tirico said. “You can’t be a clone of someone because there’s only one Chris Berman, there’s only one Dan Patrick.”
Eisen added that Patrick referred to that as “sampling,” to which Tirico responded, “Sampling, yeah, that’s it. It’s such a Dan term.”
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.