Jim Petersen (l) and Michael Grady Credit: Charles Hallman

Minnesota Timberwolves Play-by-Play Voice Michael Grady has joined NBC and Peacock’s NBA regular season and playoffs telecasts for the 2025-26 season.

Grady is among the few Black voices calling NBA games — Minnesota hired him in 2022. He was a sideline reporter for the Brooklyn Nets before that. 

Since joining the Wolves, Grady’s talent has drawn attention. Sirius XM Radio nicknamed him “the Lou Rawls of play-by-play guys” for his baritone voice that’s like the late singer, and ESPN last season put him in their rotation of lead play-by-play’s for NBA games. He also has called WNBA games — Grady was on the mic for this year’s Commissioner Cup game in Minnesota last month.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to do this,” said Grady humbly. “I’m not somebody who just decided late in life” to become a broadcaster, he pointed out. “But there’s been a lot of hard work, there’s been a lot of dreaming. There’s been a lot of things behind the scenes that people don’t see going through this journey.

“It was starting off as a kid watching NBA games, not only the action on the court, but the announcers calling the games. That’s a big part of my journey,” he said. 

Grady is following a path similar to Kevin Harlen’s, who called Timberwolves games for the team’s first nine seasons (1989-1998), then late in his Wolves stint began working split time locally and doing national games for CBS and Turner Sports, before leaving the team for good to do both NBA and NFL games in the late 1990s. Grady will be doing a reduced schedule of Wolves games this season, but because of his torrid rise he, like Harlen, will be out of here soon.

“It makes me sad that he’s not doing as many games, but I’m just so happy for him and I’m so proud of him because he’s my good friend,” said longtime Timberwolves Analyst Jim Petersen. The on-air chemistry between him and Grady came together so quickly it seems that they have been together much longer than the actual two seasons they have been paired.

“We’ve just become so close over these years,” stressed Petersen. “He’s deserved this opportunity…to be working on a national stage that’s going to give him a bigger platform.”

Furthermore, Grady is the only Black play-by-play on the NBC-Peacock broadcast team. Brad Daugherty, Derek Fisher and Austin Rivers recently were named game analysts and will join Grady as the only Blacks on the rotating broadcasting team.

“To be in this position right now,” surmised Grady, “it’s not lost on me and I don’t take these opportunities for granted. If I can inspire anybody…to inspire more diverse voices is meaningful as well. That’s important to me. That’s significant to me.”

Needed: Black and female media

Two recent articles stress the importance of Black and female voices in sports media. First and Pen’s Yussuf Khan on July 21 called out the new Fox Sports-Barstool Sports deal mainly because Barstool founder Dave Portnoy in recent years has been accused of making racist, sexist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks. Khan said, “That’s why Black media, especially independent Black media, is needed now more than ever. And to be even more specific, credible, professional, and knowledgeable Black media.”

California-based communications, marketing and sports media consultant Tonya McKnight a day later wrote in Sports Are Sexy.com July 22, “A new crop of bold, brilliant, and unapologetically feminine sports content creators are running point, calling plays and giving the game a glow-up.” She listed Siera Santos and Mariah Rose among them: “These women aren’t asking for a seat at the table — they’re building their own platforms, bringing fresh perspectives, fan-girl energy, and no-nonsense analysis to every play, pitch, and press conference.” 

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.

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