Marv Albert Calls Final Game of Legendary Broadcasting Career

The Syracuse alum is retiring.

Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications is the top communications school in the country, and one of its prominent alums has called it a career. Longtime broadcaster Marv Albert called his last game on Sunday, when the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals to eliminate the Hawks and advance to the NBA Finals. 

“I’ve been very fortunate,” Albert said via NBA.com. “I had several errors early. And then in recent years, also, you got to be a little lucky.”

Albert attended Syracuse University from 1960 to 1963. In 1962, he was the play by play voice of the Syracuse Chiefs, a minor league baseball team. While Albert has called all four major sports, he is most well known for his work as an NBA broadcaster. 

The Syracuse alum got his start in the NBA filling in for longtime New York Knicks play by play man Marty Glickman in 1963. From 1967 to 2004, Albert was the voice of the Knicks on radio and television. 

For most of the period from 1990 to 2002, Albert was the lead play by play voice for the NBA on NBC. During that time, he called some iconic moments in sports history including five of the Chicago Bulls NBA Titles led by Michael Jordan. There was a less than two year gap during that time as the result of NBC firing Albert (prior to the 1997-98 season) as a result of sexual assault accusations stemming from an incident in 1997. He ultimately pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges. NBC would rehire Albert, who returned as the lead play by play voice for the 2000-2001 season. 

In 1999, Albert also began calling NBA games for TNT, for whom he has been the lead play by play voice for more than 20 years. 

Beyond the NBA, Albert has also called games for the following: college basketball’s NCAA Tournament, New York Rangers, New York Giants, Monday Night Football, the NFL on CBS, and various other sporting events. 

Albert was the 1996 recipient of the American Sportscaster Association Sportscaster of the Year award and is a 20 time New York State Sportscaster of the Year. He has been inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame (2006), the National Jewish Museum Sports Hall of Fame (1992), National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame (2014) and the WAER Hall of Fame (2017).