Al McCoy

Allen Leonard McCoy (April 26, 1933 – September 21, 2024) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1972 to 2023. The 2022–23 NBA season was his 51st and final season. He is the longest-tenured broadcaster in NBA history.

Along with Chick Hearn, Hot Rod Hundley and Kevin Calabro, he was among the last of NBA broadcasters to have been simulcast on both television and radio, before league-officials ended the practice in the mid-2000's and McCoy's broadcasts became exclusive to radio and online streaming via the Suns Radio Network.

His fast-paced, classical broadcasting style coupled with his colorful use of catchphrase to distinguish plays has proven influential to a generation of sportscasters, such as lead NBA on ABC play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, who remarked of McCoy as "one of my heroes" during live ESPN coverage of the 2021 Western Conference Finals. Steve Albert said "I put him up there with Vin Scully and Ernie Harwell, and all the greats, all the legends."

McCoy is a Curt Gowdy Media Award winner and a member of the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor. Despite these accolades, The Arizona Republic would later detail the circumstances leading to his forced displacement to the back of the Suns arena upon his final season, after 50 previous seasons on the floor next to the Suns players' bench in a courtside spot once-named "the best seat in the house" in his own Ring of Honor speech. The Arizona Republic also published a photo gallery showing 90-year-old Al McCoy walking up the long flights of concrete steps to the higher arena location Suns personnel moved him to finish his career.

Early life McCoy was born on April 26, 1933, Williams, Iowa. He grew up on a farm outside the area with no electricity or running water throughout his early childhood. and was still a frequent guest on "Two Guys Named Jim"—a sports-talk show on WHO. He would eventually move from Iowa City, to WJJD in Chicago, to WHLD in Niagara Falls where he commenced broadcasting a “Steve Allen-type” piano-meets-disc jockey show for Buffalo, New York that was rejected by WHO. Three weeks after moving to Niagara Falls amidst a decade of constant transition and upheaval, he found stability in the form of Georgia Shahinian, born Koharig Shahinian, meeting her at a birthday party for a mutual friend. The two soon found themselves inseparable, and quickly became a daily part of each other's lives.

As his radio contract in Buffalo was set to expire, McCoy got a tip from New York Giants play-by-play broadcaster Russ Hodges that the team would be relocating to San Francisco as their Triple-A farm team moved to Phoenix, Arizona. McCoy continued to broadcast on the Suns Radio Network through the 2022-23 NBA season.

For 50 consecutive seasons (barring remote broadcasts during the pandemic) his official arena broadcast location had been stationed courtside, adjacent to the Suns players' home bench, as recent as May 2022. He stopped broadcasting road games in 2019 due to difficult vantage points at higher locations in other NBA arenas.

The NBA arrives in Phoenix (1966–1972) In the fall of 1966 McCoy completed his first NBA broadcast during a preseason game at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum between the St. Louis Hawks and Golden State Warriors. Thrilled by the idea of professional basketball in Phoenix upon announcement of the scheduled game, he phoned the Hawks GM and brokered a deal for his then-employer KOOL-FM to broadcast the game in exchange for free advertising spots, making sure to record his broadcast as a demo for a potential future in basketball. Initially, McCoy would handle production of both the radio and TV broadcasts by himself. He would hire a television crew in each city for road games after arriving in the destination city. He handled his own audio engineering and would, on an occasion or two, have to broadcast games via telephone due to technical difficulties. He helped sell advertising and would meet with any potential clients alongside Jerry Colangelo. McCoy observed "maybe 8 people in the entire front office" when he was hired, first-hand witnessing the Suns organization's gradual and eventual growth into a company that now employs hundreds.

He was honored by the Naismith Hall of Fame on September 5, 2007, when he became the 17th recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award for broadcasters at a ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts.

McCoy returned to television play-by-play for one night on August 22, 2014, broadcasting the WNBA playoff opening game between the Phoenix Mercury hosting the Los Angeles Sparks for NBATV.

On October 26, 2016, during a Suns home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he officially became the longest-tenured broadcaster in NBA History, surpassing Chick Hearn of the Los Angeles Lakers previous broadcasting record. At halftime of the record-setting game, the arena ran a video montage before Suns managing partner Robert Sarver announced that McCoy would become the 15th member of the Suns Ring of Honor, as McCoy wiped a tear from his eye. In his induction speech, McCoy thanked the organization, the fans and emphasized that "every player that has ever put on a Suns uniform... is special to me, always will be," adding that he still very much feels the thrill of the game when the ball goes in the air, concluding,

If you will continue to accept me, and if God keeps smiling on me, I'm just gonna keep going. in celebration of his 50th Season with the franchise, during a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Video tributes played in the arena, on Suns television and posted on social media featured messages from NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the Inside the NBA crew, and Steve Nash along with former and current Suns players. Longtime Suns TV color-commentator Eddie Johnson shared memories of working together with McCoy in his first years on the job, during the last years of the simulcast. And for one brief moment of a segment, the simulcast was brought back to television for the first time in 19-years as Suns TV ran audio of the live radio broadcast accompanied by live video of McCoy at courtside describing the action. Not interrupting his radio broadcast and during an untelevised timeout, McCoy was given a standing ovation by screaming fans at the Footprint Center as Suns P.A. announced his name to the sold-out arena.

The next month, immediately after the Suns set a new franchise record for the regular season on April 5, 2022, Suns player Devin Booker went to the side, signed his game jersey (writing "To Al, the legend. Franchise record!") and presented it to Al McCoy at his longtime courtside broadcast position (which would end upon his removal from courtside on October 4, 2022), as he shook both of McCoy's hands and congratulated him, saying "50th season, baby! Franchise record. Love you, man. Appreciate you, for real."

Five days later on April 10, 2022, Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego issued an official proclamation declaring the date as "Al McCoy Day" in the city of Phoenix, in honor of his 50th season and "to say thank you for guiding us through so many Suns victories and helping us celebrate with a 'Whammo' or 'SHAZAM!' when we needed it the most."

On December 17, 2022, he served as the Grand Marshal of the 2022 Fiesta Bowl Parade.

Final seasons and retirement (2022–2023) McCoy was vocal in his opposition of NBA teams and NBA arenas increasingly moving the broadcast locations for radio crews away from the floor and placing them in locations high above courtside where portions of the court are partially obscured.

McCoy wrote in his autobiography that he prefers broadcasting courtside not only for the complete view of the court, but also because it enables him to keep on top of personnel changes, player and coach interactions, clarification of referee calls, and the general flow of the game for the listening audience.

Personal life and death McCoy was married to his wife Georgia until her death in 2012, and they have three children. He also had seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. "Whammo!", "Whammo Time!", or "Wham Bam Slam!" for slam dunks. "Oh, Brother!" after moments of surprise and intensity. "Heartbreak Hotel" when a player narrowly misses a shot or the Suns lose a game. "Do You Believe It?!" when the Suns make a comeback. "Put This One in the 'Ol Deep Freeze" when the game's outcome is imminent. "Swish-a-roo for Two!" when a player easily sinks a two-point field goal. "Zing Go the Strings!" 2007. Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, 2009. Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame, 2011. Iowa Hall of Pride, 2015. Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor member, 2017. Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards gold circle member, 2022. Phoenix Magazine - Voted "Best Play-by-Play" announcer in annual "Best of the Valley" readers poll for 24-years-in-a-row, since magazine inception to present date.

Broadcast partners

Jack Beveridge Jim Wells Hot Rod Hundley John Shumate Tom Ambrose Joe Gilmartin Dennis Awtrey Chick Hearn