Kevin Harlan will call Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Unfortunately, Friday night's broadcast may be one of the last NBA games the veteran announcer will call on TNT.
Amid reports that Warner Bros. Discovery has lost out to NBC for the NBA's next media deal, Harlan appeared on the “SI Media with Jimmy Traina” podcast to discuss the possibility of TNT losing the NBA after a nearly 40-year partnership and how the development could impact his own broadcasting career.
“There's nothing I can do, so my instinct is I want to do the best job I can right now,” said Harlan, who has been TNT's play-by-play announcer since 1996. “What I can control is my performance and doing the best I can with the number of games left in this series.”
Harlan went on to explain how the NBA means a lot to him, as it was his first sport after college as a play-by-play announcer for the Kansas City Kings.
Harlan was the lead announcer for Timberwolves television broadcasts during the franchise's nine founding seasons from 1989 to 1998. The team recently honored him prior to Game 4 of their second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets.
Kevin Harlan, the original voice of the Timberwolves, was honored during Sunday's playoff game as part of the team's 35th anniversary celebration. pic.twitter.com/SBF58tgonf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 13, 2024
It's unlikely that Harlan will be tapped to be the top play-by-play announcer for either network when they begin airing NBA games in the 2025-26 season — he calls NFL and NCAA Tournament games for CBS (and Westwood One radio), and while working for both may seem unusual for an announcer, he would be working for two different sports.
But Harlan is a key voice for both basketball and football fans, and it would seem like a no-brainer that NBC or Amazon could hire him to call NBA games. But broadcasting is a business, and deals might not be so simple, especially when rival terrestrial networks are involved. Harlan would still like to call NBA games.
“I'd be lying if I said the NBA doesn't hold a special place in my heart,” Harlan told Traina, “and I would love to continue to be associated with Turner in some capacity, and if I ever do break up with Turner, I'll just let fate take its course.”
