How did the various local NBA booths stack up for the 2024-25 regular season? We asked Awful Announcing readers to evaluate each of the 30 teams’ local TV broadcasts.. The results were these announcer rankings, based on more than 11,000 individual votes.
As with our men’s college basketball announcer rankings (regular season and March Madness), NFL announcer rankings, college football announcer rankings, rules analyst rankings, and more, each booth was graded from A to F, with readers providing comments on individual teams as well. We then converted the letter grades from those responses to numerical grades, with A corresponding to 4 and F corresponding to 0, and ranked the booths accordingly. See also previous versions of these rankings from 2023-24, 2019-20, and 2015-16 (note that many of the booths have undergone significant changes since those earliest two years).
The average grade across the 30 booths was a 2.31, or a C-. This is well below most of the averages we’ve seen in the other rankings we’ve done recently, including 2.43 for NFL announcers, 2.45 for CFB announcers, 2.58 for NFL/CFB rules analysts, 2.69 for regular-season MBB announcers, and 2.89 for men’s NCAA Tournament announcers.
The rankings for teams placed 16 through 30 are listed below, in reverse order. The rankings for the top 15 teams are available on the second page here. Each entry lists the team with its primary play-by-play voice, then its primary analyst or analysts, and then notable substitute announcers, listed under “also” where possible. You can control-F to find a particular team you’re interested in.
Let’s get to the grades and selected reader comments (sometimes lightly edited for spelling and grammar) without further ado.
30. Golden State Warriors (Bob Fitzgerald, Kelenna Azubuike): 1.59
Most common grade: F (35.8% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 51.9%
This booth also placed last in our 2023-24 rankings, but their grade this season almost doubled from the 0.91 they received then. And while F remained their most common grade, that percentage dropped from 59.8 percent of votes to 35.8 percent, and they got a majority of passing grades this time. There is notable numerical improvement here, even without ranking improvement, and the 47 A votes they received were above those of 13 higher-placed teams, so there are some who really like them.
In the comments, however, there was still considerable intense criticism of these announcers. That included lines such as “the biggest homers in the league,” “biased to their heart,” and “I am a Warriors fan but decided a year and a half ago to leave the crew on mute and haven’t looked back.”
On an individual level, there was some preference expressed for Azubuike compared to Fitzgerald, as noted in comments such as “actually good” and “has improved.” There also were some who liked the “solid energy” overall. But most of these comments were strongly negative.
29. Philadelphia 76ers (Kate Scott, Alaa Abdelnaby): 1.60
Most common grade: F (28.9% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 50.1%
Like the booth below them, this team retained its overall position from last year’s rankings, but received some numerical improvement (from a 1.34). Their percentage of Fs also dropped (from 37.3%).
Interestingly, this booth received fewer passing grades than the team below it. However, they pulled in more Ds (85 to 83) and fewer Fs (114 to 143), both booths receiving 399 votes overall, making their score just a bit higher. They also received 46 A votes, above 12 teams that placed higher, so they have their fans.
The comments illustrated that love-them-or-hate-them divide as well. That included lines like “Scott is phenomenal, Alaa is great as well,” “Kate Scott is a star,” and “Alaa is the best in the business,” but also “Abdelnaby too much of a homer” and “Listening to Kate is exhausting.”
Some suggested season-over-season improvement with lines like “Kate has come along nicely.” However, others found Scott unimpressive compared to his predecessor, Marc Zumoff, who he replaced following his retirement after 27 years, and questioned the chemistry between them. There were also notes on the team’s struggles this year and criticism for how that sometimes led the broadcast to discuss off-court angles, with one respondent saying, “Even the commentators don’t want to watch them.”
28. Phoenix Suns (Kevin Ray, Eddie Johnson, Ann Meyers Drysdale): 1.88
Most common grade: C (33.9% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 64.4%
We’re out of the most-common F territory, and we also have our first team in a different position than last year. Last season, this Suns’ booth placed 26th with a 1.55. The 1.88 here would have been good enough for 22nd last year. However, a significant factor in their lower ranking is that they received only 26 A votes (out of 354 total), the third-lowest total in this poll. (However, both other booths with fewer A votes placed higher than this crew.)
Johnson, a long-tenured voice on Suns’ broadcasts, with this being his 25th season, drew most of the individual criticism in the comments. That included lines such as “one of the biggest homers there is” and “if his takes and commentary are any indication, they need to drive Eddie to a farm upstate.” The broadcast also received criticism overall for complaints about officials and perceived homerism. Interestingly enough, though, this broadcast drew some of the fewest comments of any booth.
27. Washington Wizards (Chris Miller, Drew Gooden): 1.89
Most common grade: C (29.8% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 68.7%
The Washington booth ranked 28th last year with a score of 1.48, so this represents a notable numerical improvement, if not a significant rise in the rankings. They did receive the second-fewest As (25 of 335 total votes), though. However, almost 70 percent of people gave them a passing grade, a significant jump from the booths below them.
In the comments, there was some strong praise for this team, including “Chris Miller is great despite a bad team” and “Drew Gooden needs a national job.” Several found them “solid,” with others noting their fairness, and another respondent noted “great enthusiasm from both in a rough season for the Wizards.” That was seen in their call of a season-ending game-winner from rookie Bub Carrington (which only improved the team to a 18-64 mark, second-worst in the league). However, there were also numerous critics, who described the show as “corny and boring” and “Drew Gooden is a snooze.”
26. Milwaukee Bucks: 2.00 (Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson, also Steve Novak on analysis)
Most common grade: C (43.0% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 65.9%
This is almost precisely the 2.01 the Bucks’ team received last year, but that placed them 18th. Thus, they didn’t receive the year-to-year bump that we saw for many other booths. They were held back by a high number of D and F grades (78 and 48, respectively, out of 369), with that D total second only to the 76ers’ booth (85 out of 399 votes). However, they received 43 As, surpassing several higher-ranking booths.
The comments included particular positive notes for Johnson, such as “fabulous” and “the best.” Novak drew some praise but more criticism for his analysis work on a subset of games. And Byington saw both praise and criticism, from “amazing” to “horrible.”
25. Denver Nuggets: 2.06 (Chris Marlowe, Scott Hastings, also Chris Dempsey and Katy Winge on analysis)
Most common grade: C (39.6% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 73.9%
The Nuggets’ booth is the first one to see a notable year-over-year numerical drop, from 2.23 last year. Last season, that was good enough for 13th: it would be 16th this season. A significant part of the grade was that this group received only 30 As (out of 356 votes).
There was some praise for the central pairing of Marlowe and Hastings here, including “best in the biz!” and “professional and experienced.” However, they received more criticism, including being labeled as “getting old,” “boring,” and “incredibly biased and whiny.” Winge (most usually the courtside reporter) received significant praise for the games where she worked as the analyst, including “great,” “enjoy when Altitude changes between Hastings and Winge as courtside reporter,” and “Jumps to a B if Katy Winge is the analyst….she should have the role full-time” (on a D grade).
24. Detroit Pistons: 2.07 (George Blaha, Greg Kelser)
Most common grade: C (39.6% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 69.8%
Blaha and Kelser rose from a 1.87 last year, which had them in 25th place. But they barely edged out the Nuggets’ crew here (2.066 to 2.061). The 57 Fs they received (out of 361 votes) kept them from rising higher, and were significantly more than the 37 the Denver announcers got, but 50 As versus 30 made up for that due to the weighting. Thus, this crew has quite a few people who love them, but also a significant number of people who really dislike them.
That hot-or-cold dynamic was also evident in the comments. This duo received some strong plaudits, with many referencing both their current showing and their longevity (Blaha just completed his 49th season with the team across TV and radio, and was recently named as one of four 2025 recipients of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award, while Kelser just completed his 36th campaign as a Pistons’ broadcaster and his 31st on TV). Comments along those lines included “George and Greg were on fire this year. George, particularly, had passion we have not seen from him in years,” “Blaha is awesome! A true legend of broadcasting finally getting to call a winning team,” and “A perfect combo.”
There were also negative remarks, though. One respondent argued that Blaha is “extremely overrated” solely due to his tenure, and others questioned his energy, suggesting that he either should have retired by now or should hang up the mic soon. Multiple others found them “boring,” with some adding that they were “old.”
Interestingly enough, although several people noted Blaha’s shots at other teams’ players, they did so in a positive manner. Comments there included “It almost feels like the crew has been ‘freed up’ to talk negatively about other parts of the NBA now that they call for an above-average team” and “I’m here for his straight ‘Detroit vs Everybody’ persona.” So, while those comments have sometimes attracted less-than-positive national attention, they don’t seem to be a key factor in the low grades here.
23. Utah Jazz: 2.08 (Craig Bolerjack, Thurl Bailey)
Most common grade: C (39.0% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 72.6%
This booth saw an even larger year-over-year rise than Detroit’s, climbing from last season’s 1.81 to 2.08. A key to that rise was their relatively small number of Fs, 31 (out of 328 total votes). They also received decent numbers of As (38) and Bs (72).
A challenge for this team was calling a Jazz squad that wound up with a league-worst 17-65 record this year. Some thought these announcers handled that well, with comments like “Despite being pure **** as a team, they are fun to watch and their announcers are fun,” “Bolerjack is a top PxP man and Bailey may have the smoothest voice in [the] NBA,” and “they are still great despite the awful product on the floor.” Others had overall praise for them, including “Best local booth out there” and “great commentating.”
When it came to criticism, many were higher on Bailey than Bolerjack. That included lines such as “Thurl is good, the other guy isn’t,” “Bolerjack is below average,” and “Love Thurl, Craig is getting a bit old and out of touch.” But there was also some overall critical commentary, including “announcers that sound like they don’t want to be here” and “low energy, very monotone.” Overall, there was more praise than criticism in the comments, interesting considering the relatively low placement of this team; that may suggest that many of their critics thought a low grade spoke for itself.
22. Boston Celtics: 2.11 (Drew Carter, Brian Scalabrine)
Most common grade: C (28.7% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 70.0%
The Celtics’ booth here saw a notable rise from last year, where long-time announcer Mike Gorman was the play-by-play voice for home games and Carter called road games. That setup drew a 1.54 and placed 27th in our rankings. With Gorman retiring after 43 years following the end of last season, Carter stepped into the full-time PBP role.
The new booth received stronger overall grades from our readers, including 66 As (out of 414 responses), and garnered significant praise for Carter in the comments. That included lines such as “the transition from Gorman to Carter has been a smooth one” and “has been excellent,” as well as some praising him above Scalabrine, with lines like “Drew is fantastic, A+, Brian is more a C.”
However, others were more critical of Carter, with lines like “Now that Mike Gorman is retired, this broadcast is an absolute clown show” and complaints about his nicknames, puns, and references, including one calling him “generic Syracuse-bot” and another saying he might be “the worst play-by-play [voice] in America.” And the letter grades were distributed across all five possible responses, also including 68 Fs, the third-highest total in this poll. Thus, people have strong opinions on this booth one way or another.
For Scalabrine, some complained that he was “insufferable” and “a grumpy, condescending bully.” But others found him “excellent” and “incredible,” and some praised him above Carter. Substitute analyst Eddie House also took both praise and criticism.
Overall, the comments were highly divided on this booth. There were a lot of “homers” criticisms and criticisms of their use of “we. But there were also those who highly praised them, including “such a great duo,” “the best,” “great chemistry,” “love their banter,” and more. In either case, there were certainly plenty of opinions here, with this team drawing both one of the higher vote totals and also more comments than many booths.
21. Orlando Magic (David Steele, Jeff Turner): 2.11
Most common grade: C (47.2% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 77.8%
This booth narrowly edged out the Celtics’ team for 21st place (2.114 to 2.109), but its grades had a pretty different distribution. That high number of Cs (153 of 324 responses) shows that many found them acceptable, no more and no less. And they only drew 25 As (second-lowest in these rankings), but only 15 Fs (third-lowest). Some of that is due to their low vote total (the lowest in this poll), but many of those who did weigh in were not strongly for or against them.
That thread recurred in the comments, with only five people even leaving a comment on this group. They were called the “whitest group in the NBA” and also “bland.” However, one respondent called them “good,” and another added, “If you never felt the rush of a Jeff Turner Kapaya, then you don’t know ball.”
However, the best summary of both the grades and comments might have been one response: “Fine, professional crew. They do a good job of staying away from being homers, and thank goodness they’re no longer doing the radio-TV simulcast nonsense. But they’re just solid, nothing special, so that’s why I give them a C grade.”
20. San Antonio Spurs (Jacob Tobey, Sean Elliott): 2.14
Most common grade: C (37.4% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 74.8%
Similarly to the Celtics, the Spurs’ broadcast booth saw a significant play-by-play change this year. Tobey stepped in for long-time voice Bill Land, who retired in August after 21 seasons with the team. Last year, Land and Elliott received a 2.00, ranking 19th in our standings, so this is a slight improvement for them in grade, but not in ranking. As with the Magic booth above, they received only limited numbers of votes (337), As (29), Fs (24), and comments.
Speaking of those comments, one respondent quite liked this new booth, saying “Spurs hit a home run with Tobey, the rare young broadcaster who doesn’t sound like a carbon copy of someone else. He already has great chemistry with Elliott, too.”
Others called these announcers “great” and “solid across the board.” However, there were critics, including several people who called them homers and one who described them as “the most homer broadcast in the league.” Some people liked each half of this pairing, but not the other.
19. Memphis Grizzlies (Pete Pranica, Brevin Knight): 2.15
Most common grade: C (41.2% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 76.0%
This is one of the larger year-over-year drops in these rankings. Last year, Pranica and Knight received a 2.67 and ranked seventh, with their most common grade an A (40.7% of votes). This year, they only received 35 As (out of 337 total votes, 10.4%). However, they still only received 19 Fs.
There weren’t many comments on this team. Commenters did provide a couple of critical remarks about homerism and an error of not knowing the clock rules for jump balls, but even those were tempered. There was also “Memphis is fortunate to have such an amazing team” and “Brevin is the GOAT.” One B voter said “They would be an ‘A’ if it wasn’t for ‘Bango!’” Overall, however, there were few indications as to why these grades dropped so significantly, with many of the C, D, and F voters not providing comments.
18. Miami Heat (Eric Reid, John Crotty): 2.20
Most common grade: C (37.0% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 75.9%
Here’s another notable year-over-year drop in rankings, with Reid and Crotty placing 11th last year. The numerical drop isn’t as significant, though, with them receiving a 2.26 last year. However, last year saw them receive mostly Bs, with that grade level fading to Cs (123 of 332 responses) this year.
This team also received few comments, but most of the ones they did receive were praise for Reid. Reid has worked on the Heat’s TV broadcasts since their 1988 debut, serving as their analyst for three seasons before switching to the play-by-play role in 1991. He sparked comments here such as “terrific” and “still excellent.” One long comment in praise of him included some notable sections: “[Reid] embodies everything that literally resonates Miami Heat to me. He’s not just a great announcer, but he has a phenomenal voice. …Creative, innovative broadcaster with quick-witted tenacity and excitement. The man is special and humble to boot.”
17. Houston Rockets (Craig Ackerman, Ryan Hollins): 2.21
Most common grade: C (40.7% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 78.3%
We’re back to a team seeing a significant rise. Last season, Ackerman and Hollins received a 1.86, 23rd on this list. Interestingly enough, though, that was also with C as their most common grade (40.9 percent). This season saw them get many more As (43 of 337) than Fs (26), though, which is a big part of why they’re above some of the other mostly-C booths.
The few comments there were for this team were all over the map. On the negative side, those included “two completely obnoxious homers” and “Hollins is an irritant.” On the positive side, there were lines like “underrated” and “been great post-Harden.”
16. Toronto Raptors (Matt Devlin and Jack Armstrong on TSN, Matt Devlin and Alvin Williams on Sportsnet): 2.22
Most common grade: C (40.2% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 77.8%
The Raptors’ broadcast setup is unique on several fronts. One, they don’t actually have local-only broadcasts, as their games are nationally broadcast across Canada. Two, their rights are split between TSN and Sportsnet. While Devlin is the primary play-by-play voice for broadcasts on both networks, Armstrong serves as his analyst on TSN, and Williams fills that role on Sportsnet. That presents a different situation than even the booths with regular substitute play-by-play voices or analysts, as both Armstrong and Williams are leading analysts, but don’t work together.
Last season, the Raptors’ booths received a ranking of 2.13 and placed 15th. This year, they received a higher numerical grade but a lower ranking. Still, they finished ahead of many of the other booths, which mainly received C grades, thanks to good numbers of As and Bs (52 and 75, respectively, out of 338 votes).
Speaking of the division between analysts based on network, one commentator had strong opinions on the matter. They wrote “Devlin and Armstrong are fantastic. Everything takes a step backward when Wìlliams is there instead of Armstrong.” Beyond that, Armstrong in particular drew both praise and criticism, from “Love Jack Armstrong” to “unbearable” and “bad Dick Vitale imitation.” Meanwhile, Devlin was cited as the sole reason for one A, with the comment, “sensational, and I can’t believe he hasn’t done more national work.”
Overall, these booths definitely had their fans and critics. Those ranged from “Terrible. I don’t think they know the NBA” to “Easily one of the worst teams in the league” to “Great crew. Always a good listen despite the team’s play.” However, the largest group of those votes was Cs, most of which did not come with comments.
Read on for booths 15-1!
