“I’ve never seen an organization like this,” Albert, 73, said in a phone chat preceding tonight’s Spurs-Dallas game at 7 p.m. on TNT. “They’re the model franchise of professional sports. . . Peter Holt, Gregg Popovich and such an unusual, outstanding group of players, in terms of basketball and off the court.”
It’s amazing enough that they’ve been able “to win five championships in 15 years,” he said, but he’s particularly impressed by the way they’ve accomplished it. “There is no other team that plays like them: The players are very unselfish, they’re very deep, they lead the league in assists.”
He said the Spurs’ consistency and camaraderie bowls him over. “Fourteen players back! That never happens in the NBA. They want to play in San Antonio and they play the right way.”
As for whether they can do it again — secure another championship this season, Albert said: “We treat every game objectively when we do it. . . But to me, the Spurs are the favorites again in the West.”
As for the player he loves watching the most, Albert singled out Manu Ginobili.
“I love the way Ginobili plays. Manu he’s. . . such an unusual player, does so many things you don’t see. Particularly in big games. . . no matter how beaten up he is, he comes through down the stretch.”
Yesss!
These illustrious words, from the mouth of a man who really is a legend of the game, are exhilarating to hear.
Albert, known by many as “the voice of basketball,” not only is a standout among TV broadcasters, but musicians Jack Black and Roger Waters — co-founder and former frontman of Pink Floyd — have incorporated him in their work.
Black credits Albert for the name of his comedy rock band, Tenacious D. In an interview, the actor/musician described him as “the great commentator on NBA broadcasts,” and said he came up with Tenacious D, based on the distinctive way the famed play-by-play man used the term “tenacious defense” during a game.
Even cooler, Waters used Albert’s voice on his solo album “Amused to Death.” In the song, “Perfect Sense, Part II,” the staccato-voiced Albert narrates a submarine captain’s attack on and destruction of an oil rig as if it were a basketball game.
Albert said he was surprised when Waters called on him for help. ”It happened out of nowhere,” he said. “I don’t know why Roger Waters reached out to me.”
Although not a big Floyd or Waters fan — Albert said he and his wife prefer the sounds of Sarah McLachlan, Adele and Michael Buble — he did attend a Waters concert at Madison Square Garden once. ”When that particular song came on, people cheered,” he recalled. “I got a big kick out of that.”
He also is frequently referred to as sports broadcasting’s biggest “comeback kid.” After weathering the media frenzy surrounding an assault charge in 1997 and his subsequent firing by NBC, he was reinstated as lead NBA announcer by the peacock network just two years later and has been working, well, tenaciously ever since.
His advice to people going through tough situations of their own?
“You just have to believe in yourself and have great friends around you,” Albert said. “I love what I’m doing, love people I work with. . . You’ve just got to hang in.”
Photo: TNT
