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Commentator, ABC Sports
Hubie Brown, who recently retired as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, has joined ABC Sports as lead analyst on the network's lead NBA broadcast team, it was announced today by Michael Pearl, senior vice president and executive producer of ABC Sports. Brown, who will work with Al Michaels on a select number of regular season and playoff games, as well as the NBA Finals, will also work games with play-by-play voice Mike Breen. Brown's and Michaels' first game will be the most anticipated match-up of the season, as Shaquille O'Neal returns to Los Angeles for the first time with his new team, the Miami Heat, to battle his old team, the Los Angeles Lakers, in a Christmas Day showdown, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25 (3:00 p.m., ET).
"When Hubie retired and became available, he was absolutely someone we had to hire for this position," said Pearl. "The fact that he just retired as a head coach in the NBA gives him a fresh outlook on the current players and the style of play in the league. In addition, Hubie has the previous experience of being an excellent game analyst. We are thrilled that this worked out for us to be able to bring him onto our team."
Brown returned to coaching on November 12, 2002 after a 16-year absence as the coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. He led the team to an 83-85 (.494) record during his tenure. Last season, his first full season at the helm, he led the Grizzlies to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history, winning 50 games and earning the team's first-ever playoff berth. After the outstanding 2003-04 season, he was named the NBA's Coach of the Year, winning the award for the second time in his 15-year NBA career.
Brown's coaching career spans 33 years, including 15 with the NBA, in which he led the New York Knicks to two playoff appearances during five seasons (1982-87), and the Atlanta Hawks to three playoff appearances during five seasons (1976-81), and led the Kentucky Colonels to an ABA (American Basketball Association) Championship in 1975. He also spent 15 years as a highly regarded teacher at coaching clinics and as an NBA broadcast analyst for three television networks, was nominated for a Sports Emmy in 1994 and 1999, and received the Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Emmy Award-winning announcer Al Michaels, one of television's most respected journalists and commentators, will return for his second season as the lead play-by-play announcer on ABC Sports' coverage of the NBA. Michaels, who is now in his 19th consecutive season as the play-by-play voice of "Monday Night Football," has appeared on live, primetime, over-the-air television more than anyone in the history of the medium, with the approximate total number of hours now approaching 2,000.
Michele Tafoya returns to ABC Sports for her third season as sideline reporter on the network's NBA coverage. She has served as the sideline reporter on ABC's lead broadcast team, including working the NBA Finals the last two seasons. Tafoya is in her first season as the sideline reporter for "Monday Night Football."