Brian Wheeler

Brian Wheeler (January 18, 1962 – November 8, 2024) was a radio announcer and host best known for his 21-year career as the play-by-play radio announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association from 1998 to 2019.

Biography

Early years Wheeler was adopted after his mother gave birth to him at age 17. He grew up in Southern California, where he was exposed at an early age to broadcasters such as Vin Scully and Chick Hearn. He had a difficult childhood which included the death of his adopted father at age 13 and a move to a dysfunctional and abusive household in Chicago.

Wheeler attended Loyola University in Chicago, where he earned a degree in Broadcasting and Communications.

Wheeler gradually carved out his own place as the beloved voice of the franchise. He was often recognized among the NBA's top radio play-by-play announcers, earning the recognition of Marv Albert.

In 2009, Wheeler and Schonely called a preseason game together in a game played at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in honor of the franchise's 40th anniversary. Schonely was scheduled to call just the third quarter before Wheeler quipped a line about not taking the ball away from a hot shooter and allowing Schonely to close out the game.

For a time, Wheeler hosted a daily radio talk show on KXTG-FM 95.5 The Game called Wheels at Work. In September 2010, Wheeler announced that he would step down from the radio show to spend more time working on the Blazers broadcast side of his life.

Wheeler missed most of the 2018–19 season due to health issues and was replaced by Travis Demers as the team's new radio voice in September 2019. He ended his run having called 1,823 Trail Blazers games.

During his Trail Blazers career, Wheeler worked alongside analysts Mike Rice (1998–2005), Antonio Harvey (2005–2016) and Michael Holton (2016–2019). Harvey made Wheeler the godparent of his youngest child.

He was a sports broadcasting course instructor for the online sports career training school Sports Management Worldwide in Portland.

Style

Wheeler was known for his frenetic style and loud, passionate delivery. He had a number of unique catchphrases:

"Boomshakalaka" — his most recognized catchphrase, typically used after a dunk. "And once again we can say, it's a great day to be a Blazer" — used following every Trail Blazers victory. Had several three-word alliterative adjective sets to describe the emotions of an opposing head coach who was forced to take a timeout due to a Trail Blazers' run. "Timeout San Antonio! And Gregg Popovich is mystified, mesmerized and mortified." "Bang! Kapow!" and "Ring it up!" — a made 3-pointer in a key moment. "Ooo that was nasty" — an especially good dunk. "My eyes don't deceive, so I have to believe" Damian Lillard's buzzer-beating playoff 3-pointer to defeat the Houston Rockets and end a first-round playoff series on May 3, 2014. "Bang! You've got to pinch me, I must be dreaming."

Personal life Wheeler located his birth mother, Barbara Schneider, for the first time in 2012 in Rockford, Illinois. He also met his birth father and sister.

Footnotes