Marv Albert was a legend in NBA broadcasting before he retired, and people still remember his important contributions to the field.
The 81-year-old man is known as “the voice of basketball.” In 2015, he was inducted into the basketball broadcasting Hall of Fame. During his life, he wrote about both college and pro basketball.
In addition to his great nickname, people called Albert “the voice of the New York Knicks” from 1967 to 2004. When he was in the business, it was clear that the teams and players were different because of him.
In addition to his work in basketball, Albert was also known for his work in other sports like baseball, ice hockey, and football.
The NBA media mogul did know a lot about sports, and he knew what to say to keep both the players and the crowd going during a game.
So, it makes sense why he has won so many awards and why, before he retired in 2017, he was put in the WAER Hall of Fame.
Heather Faulkiner is Marv Albert’s second wife.
Marv Albert is a famous sportscaster who has been married twice and is now with his second wife, Heather Faulkiner.
Ms. Faulkiner is well-known as the wife of a famous person, but she hasn’t added to her fame yet.
She has shown, though, that she is a wonderful and supportive wife by going to Albert’s high-level events and parties with him.
Even though they are a long way apart in age, his wife has become a partner for him in his growing years.
In September 1998, APNews said that the sportscaster and his then-fiancée Heather were going to get married. At the time, the sportscaster was 54 and Heather was 39.
Even though they are different in many ways, they have not grown apart over the years and still stay together.
The couple’s last big public appearance was at the 2016 ESPYS at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater on July 13, 2016.
As Albert gets older, the family spends more time inside and with family and friends.
Since neither of them use social media, fans and people who care about the former NBC Sports announcer don’t know how he is doing now.
Marv was married to Benita Oberlander, the mother of his children, before he met Heather.
Meet Rosanne Breen, Mike Breen’s wife. How much does he make as a play-by-play sports commentator?
Marv Albert has two sons, Kenny and Brian. He is in the NBA Hall of Fame
Marv Albert has a big family that he started with his first wife. He has no children from his second marriage.
From the 1960s to the 1970s, the former couple had four children, two sons and two daughters. The oldest child is Kenny, then Brain, the oldest daughter Denise, and then Jackie.
Kenny went into broadcasting like his father did, and he is still doing well in this field in 2022.
But you can’t say the same about the other Albert children because they all had different plans. So, the media and general public don’t know very much about the three Albert children.
Since Kenny stood next to his father on camera, he has become one of the most well-known sports media people.
He is said to be the only sportscaster who currently calls games for the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, which are the four biggest professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
Since 2009, Kenny has also filled Mike Breen’s spot as a part-time play-by-play announcer for the Knicks. Breen takes over for his father.
Aside from his job, he loves his wife Barbara Wolf, whom he has been with for 20 years. Amanda and Sydney, their two grown daughters, are often in pictures that he posts on Instagram.
In the same way, Marv’s brothers Al and Steve are play-by-play announcers. This makes the Albert family a broadcasting family.
Brandi Carlile is happily married to Catherine Shephard, and they have two cute daughters.
Marv Albert is now retired, but he was fired from his job in broadcasting for a case of assault
As far as Marv Albert’s wonderful stories from his time as a radio host go, one event can’t be the same.
Vanessa Perhach, who was 42 at the time, said that he had sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in Pentagon City after they had a fight in February 1997.
During the trial, Patricia Masden, another woman, told the jury twice about the bad things Albert had done to her. The DNA test showed that Albert was the one who left bite marks on the bodies of those women.
He admitted to misdemeanor charges of assault and battery and was given a 12-month sentence that was put on hold.
The Irish Times said that his assault case is often forgotten because of his huge career successes.
Due to the trial, NBC quickly fired Marv after working with him for 20 years before the 1997-1998 season. But they hired him back again in less than two years.
Since then, he has mostly worked in broadcasting for NBC, but he has also tried his hand at other sports. The Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants game was the last NFL game he called for NBC.
The New York Times confirmed that Albert retired for good at the age of 80, and everyone who likes sports thanked him for his work.
Early life
Albert was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to a Jewish family. He went to high school at Abraham Lincoln High School. His family members owned a grocery store on Brighton Beach Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets known as Aufrichtig. From 1960 to 1963, he went to Syracuse University to study at the Newhouse School of Public Communications. He was the voice of the AAA Syracuse Chiefs in 1962. In 1965, he got his degree from New York University.
Broadcasting career
Albert started out as a ball boy for the New York Knicks. On January 27, 1963, he worked his first Knicks game as a radio announcer for WCBS. His boss, Marty Glickman, was in Europe, so he took over for him. The game was at the Boston Garden against the Celtics. Albert was the voice of the New York Knicks on radio and TV from 1967 to 2004, when he was fired by James L. Dolan, the chairman of the MSG Network and Cablevision, for criticizing the team’s bad play on the air. People also said that Albert’s high salary might have played a role. Since 2009, his son Kenny Albert has been a part-time play-by-play announcer for the Knicks. He fills in when Mike Breen, who took over for the elder Albert, isn’t available.
Sports on NBC
From 1990 to 2002, Albert was the main play-by-play announcer for the NBA on NBC. He called every NBA Finals during that time, except for 1998, 1999, and 2000, when Bob Costas took over after Albert was arrested for sexual assault. During the 2000–2001 season, Albert went back to his old job. He called Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals, which was the last NBA game shown on NBC. During Albert’s time at NBC, he continued to be the lead play-by-play announcer for the New York Knicks on local MSG Network broadcasts. In 1999, he also started calling games for TNT. When he was put back in charge of NBC’s coverage, he kept calling the games for both networks until NBC’s coverage ended in 2002.
Albert kept his job as the lead play-by-play announcer for National Basketball Association games on TNT, which he got in 1999. Since his longtime employer, NBC, lost the NBA broadcasting rights to ABC and ESPN in 2002, TNT had become his main commitment. This may have been one reason why he left the Knicks’ broadcast booth. The Knicks reportedly wanted Albert to take a lower salary to match the shorter amount of time he would be playing for them. They also didn’t like how critical Albert was of their team, even though they were losing.
In basketball, his most well-known call is a simple “Yes!” after a basket, which he says in different ways depending on the situation.
On April 17, 2002, Albert and color analyst Mike Fratello were both hurt in a limo accident in Trenton, New Jersey. They had just finished calling a game between the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers for TNT. Albert got cuts on his face, hit his head, and twisted his ankle. Two days later, the 2002 NBA Playoffs were set to start, and Albert was set to call several games that week. Bob Costas called those games, and Albert came back to call Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings.
On May 15, 2021, it was said that Albert planned to retire after the NBA playoffs of 2021. Two days later, the news was made public. Albert’s last game was Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. It was between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks.
The New Jersey Nets (YES)
In 2005, Albert became the official play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Nets. He started calling their games on the YES Network, often with Mark Jackson, who is from Brooklyn and has been in the NBA for a long time. All three Albert brothers had worked for the Nets at some point in the team’s history. Al began his broadcasting career with the Nets when they were in the ABA, and Steve called Nets games in the late 1970s and 1980s. Starting with the 2008–09 season, Albert also worked on the YES Network with Mike Fratello, who he worked with on TNT. But because the Nets had a bad season in 2009–10, the team’s management moved Albert to a secondary play-by-play job. Since then, they have been done by Ian Eagle. Albert left the YES Network in 2011 to work for CBS Sports and cover the NFL and NCAA tournaments.
Other basketball-related ventures
Albert runs an interview show about basketball that airs on both YES and NBA TV.
Albert was also the host of the 1988 NBA Entertainment VHS tape Dazzling Dunks and Basketball Bloopers.
Albert has also been the play-by-play voice for EA Sports’ NBA Live video game series since 2003. He did this job until NBA Live 10 came out.
From 2011 to 2015, Albert called games in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship tournament. This was because CBS gave some of its coverage of the tournament to Turner Sports.
In February 2016, Albert and Turner Sports announced that he would no longer call NCAA Tournament basketball games. They said that his 74-year-old voice couldn’t handle calling four games in one day during the first round and a total of six matches in three days during the first two rounds. Albert said that he “thought it was smarter to focus on NBA at this point.”