The NBA season is (weirdly) fast approaching and preseason play is underway this week. Many of the players are a little rusty and still trying to work out what they’re doing. And clearly, so are some of the play-by-play folks as well.
On Friday, the Houston Rockets defeated the Chicago Bulls, 124-104, in the preseason opener for both squads. It was a fairly normal and unmemorable preseason affair, that is, except for one moment that made viewers do a bit of a double-take to confirm they’d just heard that they thought they’d heard.
With 12 seconds left in the contest, Bulls big man Noah Vonleh posterized a Rockets defender. In response, Bulls analyst Stacey King described the moment….uh…uniquely.
@WorldWideWob We are back… pic.twitter.com/IIxBY5nsrP
— ™️Marcus (@TheMisterMarcus) December 12, 2020
Oh my.
That’s certainly not something you usually hear on an NBA broadcast. Or any pro sports broadcast, as it were. And as you might imagine, Twitter noticed and had some thoughts.
Stacey King's analysis of Vonleh's facial. Oh dear. https://t.co/hUU6zPMZeA
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 12, 2020
Noah Vonleh dunked on someone and Stacey King’s reaction was yelling “open your mouth wide and take it” on national TV. pic.twitter.com/zrlSktviwq
— Dee Phunk (@DeePhunk) December 12, 2020
Did Stacey King say open your mouth wide and take it??? #BullsNation #Bulls #chicagobulls #NBA pic.twitter.com/Mgz1mPGlA0
— Samone (@samann988686) December 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/cpenn4thewin/status/1337646183326552064
King is no stranger to memorable dunk calls. From the time Zach LaVine threw down an epic dunk after returning from ACL surgery to his “Does anybody know how to post videos on Facebook” call, King has a good understanding of how to punctuate big dunks with big responses, even if this most recent one raises some eyebrows.
https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/933190058806362112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E933190058806362112%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fawfulannouncing.com%2Fnba%2Fbulls-announcer-stacey-king-amazing-call-antonio-blakeneys-poster-dunk.html
We look forward to hearing what else King (and new broadcasting bussy Adam Amin) has in store for the season ahead as they’re likely to be many more Vonleh dunks to come.
[BroBible]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.