The Warriors’ fourth NBA championship in the last eight years, earned with a Game 6 win over the Celtics on Thursday, has me reminiscing about the long road the franchise took to create a dynasty.
I’ve been there for all of it, including when the Golden State broadcast team paired a young play-by-play man, Bob Fitzgerald, with the incumbent — and already sagely — color analyst, Jim Barnett. Fitzgerald took over for Greg Papa, who went on to call Raiders games for years and is now the 49ers’ radio voice.
“Fitz” still calls games on TV for Golden State, but Barnett has since moved on to calling games on the radio with the radio voice of the Warriors, Tim Roye. (While I wish Barnett still called TV games, at least his radio gig allows him to call the postseason.)
For Games 5 and 6 of the NBA Finals, however, “Fitz and JB” were reunited on the radio broadcast and called the Warriors’ championship together. Though it’s unfortunate that Roye had to sit out due to health concerns, it was a nice trip down memory lane for many warriors fans.
And thankfully, Warriors superfan Antonin captured some of the broadcast and paired it with the game tape for all to enjoy.
In classic fashion, Barnett was calling for Curry to pass the ball before he hit one of the biggest shots of the game. Some thought Barnett was too nitpicky on the broadcasts, though I always loved his candor and exemplary NBA knowledge.
But it was only fitting that on a night when the Warriors extended their dynasty, their classic broadcast team got to “run that back” themselves. And I can’t wait to see what Fitz, JB, and all the Warriors have to say during their championship parade celebration on Monday.
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