Brown will work on 34 NBA broadcasts for ESPN this season, including the Finals on radioNBAE/getty images
In N.Y., Andrew Marchand noted ESPN's Hubie Brown earlier this week signed a new two-year contract with the net, and while the 85-year-old's voice is "slightly thinner than it once was ... his enthusiasm and knowledge remain at the top of the charts." Brown will make his '18 debut Friday for Celtics-Raptors, and he will "do 34 broadcasts, including the NBA Finals on radio." His NBA broadcasting story "isn't that flashy, just endearing and educational" (N.Y. POST, 10/19).
FROM ONE SIDELINE...: SPORTING NEWS' Michael McCarthy noted ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth has had a "meteoric rise over the past seven years," as she has joined Doris Burke as one of ESPN's "main NBA sideline reporters for the regular season and playoffs." She said of her job, "The sidelines is the toughest -- easiest job -- in the business. You don't have a lot of time, so you have to make it succinct. ... Your biggest role is that post-game interview. You end up being part of the game. Because people want to hear from LeBron if he hits the game winner. You have to make sure you get the right emotion" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 10/18).
...TO ANOTHER: Allie LaForce earlier this year left CBS for Turner Sports, and said covering basketball full-time "is my dream and that's my passion." She said she will "forever be grateful to CBS because it really took my career to the next level." LaForce: "I want to be in the studio and I want to be an analyst and be on the sidelines, but I don't want to keep doing sidelines and just be complacent. ... Talking at 30 seconds at a time for the rest of your career isn't fulfilling to me in the NBA, there's so much more freedom to have conversations" ("Awful Announcing Podcast," 10/17).
TURNER COMINGS & GOINGS: Turner Sports has hired former MLS player Maurice Edu to be an analyst on the net's UEFA Champions League studio show. Turner has used "crossover appeal" from other sports in its UEFA broadcasts. It has "taken criticism for making its coverage as much about off-the-field culture as on-the-field action, but that style appeals to Edu" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/18). Meanwhile, NBC Sports Regional Networks named Tom Haberstroh a national NBA reporter with a focus on teams located in markets with NBC RSNs. He previously served as an NBA writer at Bleacher Report and B/R Mag (NBC Sports).
ESPN NOTES: Washington Post NBA reporter Tim Bontemps is leaving the paper "to join ESPN" (TWITTER.com, 10/19)....Former Ole Miss men's basketball coach Andy Kennedy "will join the SEC Network as a studio analyst" (CINCINNATI.com, 10/17)....ESPN has reached multiyear extensions with both "SportsCenter" anchor Zubin Mehenti and NBA writer Baxter Holmes (THE DAILY).
