Grant Long Rocking the ShadesBrian Davis and Grant Long have been named play-by-play and colour commentators for the TV broadcasts of the Thunder.
It says to tune into the Sports Animal, but they're talking about the Rider Cup (ugh.)
I've done a quick search, and it says that both are former basketball players.
Brian Davis was a member of the 1991 and 1992 back to back Duke national championship teams. He was selected 48th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft. For one season, he went to Europe to play with Gheorghe Muresan on Elan Vernais Pau-Orthez. The next season, he had an average season with the Timberwolves before dropping out of basketball altogether. He co-owns a company developing a upscale community in Durham, North Carolina called "West Village". The other owners are none other than Christian Laettner and some Duke graduate named Tom Niemann, and the company is called "Blue Devil Ventures". They have donated 2 millions to Dukes basketball program (as if they needed it) and have reportedly tried to buy the Memphis Grizzlies and D.C. United. Why he would want to start doing Thunder play-by-play is anyones guess. He seems like a Duke guy more than anything.
Grant Long is a former journeyman Power Forward for the Heat, Hawks, Pistons, Grizzlies, and Celtics who was known for his defense and rebounding. Now that I think about it, I sort of remember him....but not really. What would make him come to Oklahoma City to do broadcasts?
Still, from the look of that photo, he has some Slammin' shades.
Brian Grant was just on the Sports Animal.
Basically, he was with FSN in the Pacific Northwest. He's also done some Pac 10 basketball and football, along with some Chicago Fire play-by-play. He says he's really excited to be here, and excited about how much fun he'll have. Grant Long got on the phone, and professed that he grew up in a small town, so he's not worried about moving from a big city to Oklahoma City.
Well, I can't say that I'm not a little disappointed. I'm sure these guys are great announcers, but I would've preferred if we could've had someone local who's been doing if for years, like a Bob Barry Sr. and Al Eschbach combination. It will take some getting used to, but hopefully these guys will prove to be great announcers. And please, please don't let them be massive homers. Un-biased commentary is golden (shoutout to Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett, Warriors announcers).
Apparently, earlier everybody thought that Brent Price was getting the job. That would have been extremely cool, especially since Mark Price (his brother) was my favourite basketball player pre-Adonal Foyle.
Reguardless, a big welcome to Brian Davis and Grant Long!
EDIT: This is the WRONG Brian Davis. He is actually an old white guy who used to fill in on SuperSonics broadcasts. Thanks to Joe at thunderguru.com for the correction.
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