Gary Gerould announces a Sacramento Kings game alongside his son, Bob Gerould. Gary Gerould has been the only radio announcer in Sacramento Kings history since the team moved to California from Kansas City in 1985.
Courtesy of Gary Gerould
Gary Gerould (left) works on air at radio station WMDN in Midland in the late 1950s.
Courtesy of Anderson University
Gary Gerould is shown at his broadcast location at Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings, before a recent game. Gerould, a Midland native, is the first and only radio voice of the Kings since they moved to Sacramento, California, in 1985.
Courtesy of Gary Gerould
Midland native Gary Gerould interviews Sacramento Kings player Domantas Sabonis after a game. Gerould has been the only radio announcer in Sacramento Kings history since the team moved to California from Kansas City in 1985.
Courtesy of Gary Gerould
Gary Gerould shares an embraces with former Sacramento Kings star and fellow Michigan native Chris Webber. Gerould has been the only radio announcer in Sacramento Kings history since the team moved to California from Kansas City in 1985.
Courtesy of Gary Gerould
Gary Gerould, center, celebrates with the Sacramento Kings team after announcing his 3000th game. Gerould has been the only radio announcer in Sacramento Kings history since the team moved to California from Kansas City in 1985.
Courtesy of Gary Gerould
Gary Gerould interviews DeMar DeRozan when DeRozan joined the Sacramento Kings. Gerould has been the only radio announcer in Sacramento Kings history since the team moved to California from Kansas City in 1985.
Courtesy of Gary Gerould
Gary Gerould no longer has any family members in Midland and hasn’t lived there for more than 60 years. But for the man who has called more than 3,000 games as the first and only radio voice of the Sacramento Kings basketball team, Midland is where it all began.
“The last time I was in Midland was over 10 years ago,” he noted in a recent phone interview from California. “I had an extra day off when we played the Detroit Pistons. I did a nostalgia tour and took pictures of various places that still existed (from my childhood).
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“I was fortunate I had the opportunity to grow up in Midland, Michigan. I wish I had more reasons that would get me back there more frequently.”
Inducted into the Midland County Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, Gerould overcame a lot of adversity as a child and eventually traveled around the world in his sports broadcasting career.
Gerould – who at the age of 85 travels with the Kings to all 82 of their home and away games every season and is known affectionately as the “G-Man” – grew up in a house on Maryland Street just south of where Midland High School is today. He attended two elementary schools that have since been torn down – State Street and Eastlawn – then Northeast Intermediate and the former Midland High School, which was replaced by Central Middle School and now Central Park Elementary.
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His final two years of high school were at the current Midland High School near his house.
Gerould, who was an only child, didn’t have an easy time growing up. His father, Charles, a research scientist at Dow Chemical, died when Gerould was 12 after a seven-year battle with cancer. His mother, Zaida, later worked at Dow also and struggled with illness as well.
“I frequently found myself living with neighbors or with the pastor’s family from our church,” he explained. “It’s safe to say, at a pretty young age I learned to be on my own quite a bit.”
Amid everything going on in his life, Gerould found a solace of sorts at the WMDN radio station (now WMPX) at the corner of Swede and Eastlawn, where he started to develop his love for announcing and got a job while in high school.
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“I began to hang out at WMDN. I went there virtually every day. I started to learn a little about small-town radio,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Midland High, the 5-foot, 8-inch Gerould ran on the cross country and track and field teams and very much wanted to play basketball, too.
“I tried out for the basketball team every year. Keith Carey was the head coach, and on cut day, he put his arm around my shoulder and said, ‘Gary, if you were just a few inches taller…”
Midland resident Bob Lanning, who is known around the community for his passionate support of Midland High sports and Berryhill baseball, grew up with Gerould, living just a block away from him. They went to school together and Lanning helped him do his paper routes sometimes.
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“He’s a great guy,” Lanning enthused, mentioning that Gerould once got tickets and a parking pass for Lanning and his brother Tom to go to a Kings game against the Detroit Pistons in Detroit.
“He got us a pass (to go and see him) after the game was over. I’ve got a picture somewhere of him and I sitting in the broadcast booth,” said Lanning, who nominated Gerould for the Midland County Sports Hall of Fame.
Gerould and Lanning were part of a group of friends that also included Howard Mudd, who went on to play in the National Football League; Richie Waite, who played professional baseball; Leroy Milner, Mike Westley and others.
Gerould also recalls Mudd, whose mother was a registered nurse in Midland and helped deliver Gerould and his wife Marlene’s daughter, Beth.
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Getting married and starting his career
Gerould graduated from Anderson University in Indiana, where he and Marlene met. They first lived in Midland after getting married and Gerould worked at WMDN. They moved to Chico, California, in 1965, when Marlene’s father, who lived there, found a radio job for Gerould. Within a few years, another job change brought Gerould’s family to Sacramento.
As one opportunity led to another, Gerould’s career gradually blossomed in the 1970s and 1980s and he had opportunities to cover Olympic Games, NFL Games, the Indy 500, and many other prominent events.
“Everything from sumo wrestling to NFL football,” he said. “That was the tail end of the glory days of the networks. Money was no object as far as the networks were concerned.”
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But Gerould never anticipated the opportunity he got in 1985, when the Kings of the National Basketball Association moved to Sacramento from Kansas City.
“I got a call from a friend of mine in the ownership group. He said, ‘Would you want to be the radio voice of the Kings?’ I said, ‘Of course.’
“What’s staggering to me is, that was 41 years ago and I still have the opportunity to call the Kings games. That blows my mind,” Gerould said.
Since 1985, Gerould has seen the highs and lows with the Kings. He did not experience a winning season until 1999-2000, but just two years later – led by Chris Webber, Peja Stojaković, Vlade Divac, and Jason Williams – Sacramento had a league-best 61-21 record in 2001-02 and came within one win (an overtime loss) of beating the Los Angeles Lakers and advancing to the NBA Finals.
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Since 2006, though, the Kings have had only two winning seasons and were 8-29 this season as of Jan. 8.
Coming up on Jan. 25, the Kings will come to Detroit to play the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, whose radio and TV announcer, George Blaha, is the only NBA announcer with a longer tenure than Gerould. Blaha is in his 50th season.
Gerould values his friendship with Blaha and fellow Pistons announcers Rick Mahorn and Mark Champion, among others in the NBA.
“These people become friends, not just colleagues,” he said.
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Of course, Gerould needs only look at the Pistons (28-9) to see that a team can turn things around in a hurry.
Just two years ago, Detroit had the worst season in franchise history at 14–68, including an NBA-record 28-game losing streak.
“(Coach JB) Bickerstaff has totally turned them around. They’re legit,” Gerould said.
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All in all, it’s been an amazing ride for Gerould, and he’s grateful for every season that it continues.
“I’m genuinely blessed to have an opportunity to still be involved (with the Kings) at my age,” he reflected. “As long as the good Lord will allow, (I’ll keep broadcasting). We’ll see how it plays out.”