Marv Albert has been the voice of countless NBA over the course of his career. He has done work with college football, NFL football, NHL hockey, and Wimbledon tennis as well during his time announcing but has certainly made his name, and his money broadcasting all the action from the hardwood. Despite a less than impressive criminal record filled with scandal, he remains one of the most sought after voices in all of broadcasting and has become the voice that viewers look forward to hearing when they turn on a basketball game on TNT. He made his name broadcasting for the Knicks in the 1960's after taking over for Marty Glickman and his stock instantly rose from there. Even after his sexual assault charge AND getting let go from the Knicks organization for overly-criticizing their poor play, he was still a hot commodity and was hired by the YES! network to do Nets games as well as by TNT to do their league wide coverage of NBA games (now viewable on Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Albert's voice has been associated with some of the most magical moments in NBA regular season, playoff, and Finals history since he has been calling games through generations of superstars keeping his winning formula the entire way through even as basketball has changed dramatically.
If you watched the videos on the links above, you can realize why Albert has had the ability to stay consistent with his delivery method, and how he discusses the game of basketball unfolding before him. He has sayings which are completely and totally timeless. Marv Albert keeps fans listening as their favorite player drives to the basket or steps back to take that big jump shot by keeping a slight questioning tone while a shot is developing. He has been answering his own question for the past 50+ years with one of the simplest, yet most memorable statements you will ever hear while listening to a broadcast, "YES!!" Also, as we know, dunking has become a major method of scoring points in the NBA, and despite how it has happened thousands of times, everyone still gets excited when someone dunks on another team's defender. Albert has found the perfect way to feed into the fans' excitement with his catch-phrase "SERVING UP THE FACIAL." Catch-phrases like Albert's have withstood the test of time, and have actually become more relevant to viewers. Slang is a common thing in basketball jargon and Albert, a now 72 year old man, still has the ability to influence the NBA's young fan-base with the hip, and timeless saying.
Along with Albert's ability to keep games interesting via his historical sayings, his iconic voice is something networks have been searching for since his beginnings back in Madison Square Garden. Despite the baggage that he comes with, he is comparable to Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocinco in their prime, the good outweighs the potential bad media that they come with. For now, TNT is happy to have Marv Albert doing their games and improving their ratings. Although his career may be coming to an end due to his age shortly, one thing is for sure, he has certainly made an impression on the sports broadcasting world in a positive sense.
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