NBC rehired Marv Albert yesterday, roughly 21 months
after the network dropped him after he pleaded guilty to a
misdemeanor assault charge. Albert will handle play-by-play
duties for the "NBA on NBC," as well as call boxing and
hockey on NBC's network and cable coverage of the 2000 and
2002 Olympic Games (THE DAILY). In a conference call, NBC
Sports Chair Dick Ebersol said Albert has "been a great
friend and he's a great talent. I made it clear from the
beginning that I always wanted him to return. We wanted him
to come home." In DC, Leonard Shapiro reports that Ebersol
added that NBC "did no research among advertisers and fans
to gauge reaction to Alberts' return," as Turner Sports had
done "prior to hiring him." Ebersol: "Marv's been back on
with two competitors [MSG Network & Turner] and we all share
the same advertiser pool and the same fans." Albert said
that he "did not consider his latest job with NBC as any
sort of 'redemption.'" Albert: "It's hard for me to make a
judgment on the word redemption. It's better to look ahead
rather than look back" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/30). In N.Y.,
Richard Sandomir reports that NBC's "interest in Albert came
amid his negotiations to join Fox Sports" for NFL games.
Ebersol: "I realized I'd better act immediately or I
wouldn't be able to do this for three or four years."
Albert's agent Arthur Kaminsky: "Once it was clear NBC would
make Marv an offer for the N.B.A. and the Olympics, it was
much more alluring considering what Marv does." Fox Sports
co-Exec Producer Ed Goren: "I had to be a realist. You
can't compete against what NBC offered." Sandomir estimates
Albert's salary from his four jobs, which also includes
radio work on WFAN, to "be between" $2M-2.5M annually,
"about what it was" when he left NBC and MSG in '97 (N.Y.
TIMES, 6/30). In Boston, Gregg Krupa writes that Albert had
"garnered almost universal support from sportswriters in New
York and fellow broadcasters, many of whom said he had paid
publicly and privately for his offense." Ebersol: "Bob
Costas, in particular, has gone out of his way throughout
these two years to encourage us to bring Marv back" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 6/30). Ebersol: "I believe very deeply I'm doing
what's right" (USA TODAY, 6/30).
THE LINEUP: DAILY VARIETY's John Dempsey writes that
the NBC deal "represents an almost total reclamation of
Albert's reputation." Albert "will start off low in the
pecking order of NBA announcers." Ebersol said former Cavs
coach Mike Fratello "will receive serious consideration" to
work with Albert (DAILY VARIETY, 6/30). NBC's "top three
announcing teams" for NBA action "will remain intact" with
Costas-Doug Collins; Tom Hammond-Bill Walton-Steve Jones;
Mike Breen-Matt Guokas. Ebersol "did not rule out pairing
Albert and Walton for select games" (ST. PETE TIMES, 6/30).
In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes that Albert's return "makes his
broadcast comeback complete," and cites Ebersol as saying
that Albert would return as NBC's "No. 3 NBA play-by-play
man" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/30). Ebersol said a fourth NBA
announcing team "was necessary" because NBC "will air
between 55 and 60 games next season." Albert will call both
regional and national games and will continue to call NBA
games for Turner (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 6/30).
TOO SOON/ENOUGH ALREADY? In Boston, Jim Baker: "If
Latrell Sprewell can be a favorite [in N.Y.] after choking
his coach on the other side of the country, why can't native
Marv Albert be forgiven in Sin City" (BOSTON HERALD, 6/30).
In Hartford, Jeff Goldberg calls NBC's move "nice, certainly
for Albert. Weird, in a sense, that society has welcomed
him back so easily." An NBC security guard didn't recognize
Albert yesterday and "wouldn't let him in until he produced
identification." Ebersol: "Our security guards turn over
quickly" (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/30). On Foxsports.com, Keith
Olbermann writes that Ebersol had been "unable to convince"
NBC President Bob Wright or GE Chair Jack Welch to approve
Albert's return earlier this year: "Those NBC gentlemen who
were unhappy about rehiring somebody who deceived them, and
were afraid of public backlash when Marv went on national
TV, have been becalmed" (FoxSports.com, 6/30).
