Bob Costas is the venerable voice of the Olympics, and has commentated on nearly every major sporting event you can think of over his lengthy career. He’s a legend, to be sure, even if he’s had moments he’d like to have back. But everyone has to start somewhere, and for Costas, that was as radio announcer for the ABA’s Spirits of St. Louis back in 1975.
Legendary basketball coach and executive Rod Thorn was on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast Wednesday, and as the coach of the Spirits back then, he has one heck of a Costas story to tell. Apparently, Costas and Thorn engaged in regular pickup basketball games, and the 5-foot-7 broadcaster was not screwing around. Here’s Thorn:
He saw himself as a player. And he used to play, like after practice, before practice. He and the trainer and Gregg Polinsky, myself, we’d play. And Bob never passed. Ever. And he had on, you know like, wristbands up to his … [laughing] you know, the way guys wear them today. He had that back in those days. Headband. Oh, and long pants. He thought he was a tremendous player.
It figures that a man who lends such a sanctimonious, historical air to every broadcast he does would take himself so seriously on the court, especially as a younger man. But that’s not the best part, oh no. Not by a long shot.
Wojnarowski: But also he would do play-by-play. He would announce you.
Thorn: Oh yeah. He’d take a shot, [Costas impression] “And 20-footer by Costas … good!” Shut up, you’re losing every game, shut up. Yeah, he would do that.
I’m not sure I would be able to defend Costas – I’d be laughing too hard. Of course, we’ve all called our own games when playing alone — “And the crowd goes wild!” — but to do it in front of other people is something else. God knows that if he was really calling his own game, Costas the announcer would admonish Costas the player for never passing.
(Via The Vertical, h/t SB Nation)
