Mike Gorman | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Gorman at theMassachusetts State House in 2008 | |
| Born | (1947-11-24)November 24, 1947 (age 78) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Boston State College |
| Years active | 1970s–2024 |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team | Boston Celtics |
| Genre | Play-by-play |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Employer | NBC Sports Boston |
Mike Gorman (born November 24, 1947) is an American formersports commentator. After returning from theUnited States Navy in the 1970s, he began working at radio and television stations inMassachusetts andRhode Island with the help of fellow commentatorGil Santos. Starting in 1981, Gorman began providingplay-by-play commentary for local television broadcasts of theBoston Celtics, doing so alongside color commentator and Celtics legendTom Heinsohn. The duo called games together until 2020, with Gorman later retiring from broadcasting in 2024.
Outside of the Celtics, Gorman also worked withCBS,ESPN,NBC, andTBS, providing play-by-play for events likeBig East basketball games,NCAA basketball tournament games, theNBA playoffs, and theSummer Olympic Games. Gorman was enshrined in theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021 as a recipient of theCurt Gowdy Award.
Gorman was born on November 24, 1947, in theDorchester neighborhood ofBoston, Massachusetts, as the youngest of three children.[1][2] As a child, he served as analtar boy at the St. Brendan Parish and attendedBoston Latin School.[2] His interest in basketball stemmed from viewingNBAbox scores in theBoston American newspaper. Occasionally, he would attempt to sneak intoBoston Celtics games at theBoston Garden by climbing up afire escape.[2] He played basketball for Boston Latin as aguard, becoming a standout player for the school.[2]
Gorman graduated fromBoston State College, now known as theUniversity of Massachusetts Boston, in 1969, studying to become a teacher and coach.[2] Shortly after graduating, however, Gorman wasdrafted into theUnited States Navy and became anaviator specializing inreconnaissance.[2] He served in theVP-44 squadron operating out ofNaval Air Station Brunswick,[2][3] and was regarded by the squadron as one of their most trustworthy aviators.[2] Gorman was originally due to take part in an air mission near the coast ofSpain in 1972 that eventually crashed into a mountain while operating in poor weather, killing all 14 crewmen on board; he had been redirected to handle paperwork at the last minute.[2] The guilt Gorman felt from not being able to assist his squadron during the mission led to him never flying again and later retiring from the Navy in 1973, returning to live with his parents in Dorchester afterward.[2]
While looking for work after returning from the Navy, Gorman became interested in the radio and television industries after a fellow Navy crewman discussed his past experience in the fields with him.[2] As a result, he attempted to seek advice from Boston-based broadcasterGil Santos atWBZ. After being initially turned away by the WBZ security guard, the guard allowed Gorman into the building after learning that he was a fellow Navy veteran.[3] Though WBZ did not have any open positions,[2] Santos assisted Gorman in being hired at theNew Bedford-basedWNBH station by fabricating Gorman's background in radio.[2][3] After selling advertisements and rotatingelevator music tapes at WNBH, Gorman went on to work atWPRO inProvidence, Rhode Island, and also became the sports director forWPRI-TV, serving as theplay-by-play commentator for theProvidence Friars men's basketball team.[2][3]
On November 1, 1981,The Boston Globe reported that Gorman would begin calling television broadcasts of Boston Celtics games onPRISM New England alongsidecolor commentator and Celtics legendTom Heinsohn.[4] Colloquially known as "Mike and Tommy",[5] they formed one of the longest-tenured broadcast tandems in professional sports, lasting 39 years.[6]
Heinsohn influenced Gorman's commentary technique by encouraging him to "talk about what we see in front of us" rather than conventionally referring to sets of notes about each team.[2] Gorman's trademark calls during Celtics games would be occasionally exclaiming "got it!" or "takes it... makes it!" whenever a Celtics player made an important shot.[5] He was inspired by Celtics radio commentatorJohnny Most and his "bang!" call to make a signature call of his own; Most personally approved of the "got it!" call.[2] Gorman considered the team's2007–08 season, in which they won their record-setting17th NBA championship, to be his favorite season as a commentator.[5] Gorman's partnership with Heinsohn came to an end when Heinsohn died in November 2020.[6] Former Celtics player and 2008 NBA championBrian Scalabrine took over Heinsohn's role as the color commentator.[7]
Prior to the2023–24 season, Gorman announced his intention to retire following the season's conclusion.[8] For his final season, Gorman called only Celtics home games while Drew Carter called all Celtics road games.[9] During the final game of the Celtics' regular season on April 12, 2024, the courtside broadcasting table forTD Garden was renamed to the "Mike Gorman Broadcast Table" in a halftime ceremony honoring Gorman, which also featured a video package going through his most iconic moments, an interview and numerous standing ovations.[10][11] In addition, Boston mayorMichelle Wu declared April 12, 2024, as "Mike Gorman Day" to honor his final regular season game with the Celtics.[12] His final game came on May 1, 2024, in which the Celtics eliminated theMiami Heat from the playoffs in the fifth game of the first round. His tenure with the Celtics lasted 43 years.[7] Gorman's last game came one day before the final broadcast for longtimeBoston Bruins play-by-play commentatorJack Edwards, who also announced his retirement during theBruins' season.[13] The Celtics went on to win a record-setting18th NBA championship, defeating theDallas Mavericks; Gorman joined the Celtics for theirduck boatvictory parade afterward.[14] Gorman was succeeded by Carter full-time as the Celtics' television play-by-play commentator.[9]
Outside of working with the Celtics locally, Gorman also worked with multiple national television networks as a commentator. He served as the play-by-play commentator forESPN's "Big Monday"Big East Game of the Week alongside color commentatorBill Raftery.[2] He additionally called someNCAA basketball tournament games onCBS[12] as well as theNBA playoffs onTBS.[15] Gorman also worked withNBC to provide commentary at multipleSummer Olympic Games. He first calledtennis matches at the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[15] He later provided commentary forhandball at the2012 Summer Olympics in London and calledmen's basketball games at the2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, doing the latter alongsideFran Fraschilla.[16]
Gorman has been married twice, having a daughter, Kristen, from his first marriage.[2] He has been married to his second wife, Teri, since 1988; the two met while she had been a television stage manager for college basketball games and Gorman had been calling Big East basketball games.[2] Gorman's wife would go on to produce Big East basketball broadcasts, with the two of them collaborating on editing game highlights.[2] They lived in an85th Street apartment in theManhattan borough ofNew York City while she had been working for theWNBA, before eventually moving toSouth Salem, New York.[2] As of 2019, Gorman and his wife resided in a penthouse apartment nearby TD Garden.[2] Since retirement Gorman has enjoyed a quiet life reading books, fishing and continuing to watch Celtics games.[17] He has also made his acting debut serving as a special guest in the playNassim.[18]
Gorman's typical gameday routine included exercising for one hour and taking a nap for half an hour prior to the game.[2] In 2023, he suffered a suddendetached retina while having lunch that resulted in him temporarily losing sight in one eye; the injury would have resulted in permanent blindness had he not been operated on within 48 hours. The surgery resulted in him briefly calling Celtics games with an eye patch, and contributed to his decision to retire after the 2023–24 season.[19]
Gorman is a five-time recipient of theSports Emmy Award.[20] He was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.[20] In 2016 Gorman alongside his former broadcast partnerTom Heinsohn were both inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasting Hall of Fame.[21] In 2021, he was enshrined in theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after receiving theCurt Gowdy Electronic Media Award for his contributions as a basketball commentator.[15] In 2024 Gorman was named that years JFK National Award Winner, a yearly award given out to a prominent Irish-American.[22]
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