BOSTON -- The 2023-24 Boston Celtics don’t require any additional motivation in the pursuit of elusive Banner 18. But if they needed just one more little bit of inspiration there is this: These Celtics really need to send broadcast legend Mike Gorman into retirement with a parade.
Gorman’s 43rd season of calling games at TD Garden launches Friday night when the Miami Heat -- the team that derailed Boston’s title quest last season in the Eastern Conference Finals -- visit in Boston’s home-opener. Gorman will broadcast all the home games for NBC Sports Boston during his final season on the mic.
"It's pretty special. I'll be sad when he's not calling our games any more,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. "I know that he'll be excited to try new adventures and live life, but we need to make a run. And so I'm hoping that this is a special year for him.”
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Stevens may be a transplant from Indiana, but like anyone else who ends up in this organization, he quickly learned the legend of Gorman and his longtime broadcast partner Tommy Heinsohn.
“No matter how good the team is, no matter how much opportunity you have to compete in the playoffs, you knew you could turn the TV on and hear his voice, and Tommy alongside him, for all those years,” said Stevens. “To me, that's pretty special. It's not just special to those of us that are around him, that know him, that know the kind of person he is, but (also) to every kid that turns on a Celtics game that 30 years later is still listening to the same person.”
Like many his age, head coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t know a Celtics television play-by-play voice other than Gorman. The 35-year-old Mazzulla, a Rhode Island native, grew up listening to Mike and Tommy as the voices of Celtics basketball.
"Just a distinct voice. I love that guy,” said Mazzulla. "He always has a wisdom, especially last year, just getting to know him by sharing stories about the books we were reading and the things that we were learning. Just a great guy, a graceful presence.
“Working for the Celtics is probably the best thing there is, but nothing is permanent, right? And so you see a guy like him leave the Celtics in a better place … you're grateful for kind of how he moved the organization and the brand forward. And you try to do the same. So it's inspiring. At the same time, I'm happy that I know him.”
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Celtics players don’t get the Gorman experience in real time. But he is ultimately the narrator for so many of their career highlights, his call further elevating those moments.
And some of the longtime players feel a responsibility to send him out the best way possible.
“Let’s have a great year. I think just wishing him well as he goes into his next phase. Let’s let this year be a great one,” said Jaylen Brown, the longest-tenured Celtics player. “Then he gets to go have some fun and spend time with his family … But his career, he definitely contributed to the Celtics and the culture. It predates me or anybody else, so I give him my respect.”
Now, Brown and Co. just needs to give him that parade.