Boston Celtics legendary play-by-play broadcaster Mike Gorman will unplug his microphone for good at the end of the season after 43-years calling games.
Perhaps the team can take him on a tour of the city from a duck boat this summer.
But what’s the future of the Celtics broadcast after this season?
Gorman’s retirement isn’t a surprise, but his replacement might be. NBC Sports hired Drew Carter, a 2019 Syracuse graduate that’s already done a multitude of sports coverage for ESPN, to replace Gorman full time starting in the 2024-25 season.
In spring of 2023, Carter interviewed with NBC Sports Boston Vice President, Kevin Miller, and then he later received an email in the summer asking if he’d come in for an audition. Carter ended up at the Needham studio where he met Brian Scalabrine and the two of them called Game 6 of the second-round series between the Celtics and 76ers.
Carter has been the play-by-play broadcaster for the Celtics on the road this season next to Scalabrine. They have quickly formed a rapport and it’s clear that Scalabrine likes the kid, as you can tell from the broadcast, which isn’t always an easy thing to do.
However, longtime Celtics radio broadcaster, Sean Grande, has made a few comments that suggest maybe the future of the broadcast isn’t as set in stone as it may seem.
In June of 2023, Grande appeared on the Off The Pike podcast with Brian Barrett to discuss the Celtics offseason. One of the things he mentioned was about his 22-year run with broadcast partner and Celtics legend, Cedric Maxwell, possibly being up in the air for this current season.
“My guy, Cedric Maxwell, I’ve been with for 22-years now. Don’t ask me about 23, there’s a lot of stuff up in the air right now.”
By saying this in June, Grande is suggesting that maybe he or Maxwell would slide into the TV role to succeed Gorman. Then, two-months later in August, Grande appeared on another podcast, Celtics Beat, suggesting that his ideal situation would be to do both TV and radio broadcasts.
“Last season was my favorite year. Of the 22 I’ve done with the Celtics and maybe the 25 I’ve done in the NBA, last year was my personal favorite because I got to do both and work on both . . . To me it was like the perfect scenario.”
At the beginning of March, Grande joined the Celtics Beat podcast again and was eventually asked about the future of the broadcast after he re-signed with 98.5 The Sports Hub to call Celtics games along with Maxwell, who also re-signed with 98.5.
As you heard, Grande didn’t want to misspeak or talk too soon out of respect for Gorman, but it seems as if Grande may have been their first choice and maybe he declined at that point in time.
I only say this because of the two comments he made about watching playoff games from his house and the possibility of being “thrust” into a position similarly to how Joe Mazzulla was named interim head coach three days before the start of training camp.
Carter’s been great. He comes with experience and is educated on the game and the team, but he’s taken his fair share of criticism during the season from older Celtics fans, Twitter trolls, and even Boston sports radio, saying that he’s trying too hard and he’s “too Syracuse” as I heard on Felger and Mazz earlier this season.
It’s unclear why Grande is still suggesting that something unexpected is going to happen after the season with the broadcast. Maybe he’s just upset that the job didn’t go to him? I’m unsure but it’s a surprising stance from Grande at this point.
It’s worth mentioning that NBC Sports Boston is pushing this into existence, so much so that they have a small little series called Meet Ups With Mike & Drew, designed for Carter to get to know Gorman and the city of Boston before he takes over for him.
Carter and Scalabrine have been great on the road this season and it’s going to be great hearing them on the call together next season for their first full season.
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Photo Credit: Drew Carter
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