The Wolves finally found their new play-by-play announcer. Yesterday, they announced Michael Grady will join Jim Peterson on the Bally Sports North broadcast, replacing Dave Benz.
Grady built his reputation with WRTV-TV in his home state of Indiana. He worked as a sports anchor for the ABC affiliate from 2014-17, earning the 2015 Indiana Sportscaster of the Year award for his work. Then he moved to New York for five tumultuous Brooklyn Nets seasons, covering from the D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert era to the Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant saga. Grady has seen and covered lots of hoops since starting his media career nearly 20 years ago at WIBC Radio in Indianapolis in 2003.
Grady joined the YES Network in 2017, working in various roles. He was a courtside reporter for the Nets but also did play-by-play for the New York Liberty. Grady also occasionally stepped in for the Nets. He won a New York Emmy Award in 2019 as part of YES’ season-long Nets coverage, and he earned three more New York Emmy Awards in 2021 for his work as a part of the Brooklyn Nets Magazine.
Here is Grady announcing Irving’s electric 60-point game against the Orlando Magic:
YES Network currently features Ian Eagle, Richard Jefferson, Sarah Kustok, and Ryan Ruocco. They also have had plenty of now well-known staff in Marv Albert, Michelle Beadle, and Mark Jackson in their 20 years of broadcasting New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets basketball. Many of these announcers have moved on to bigger and better things or continue to work with large sports broadcasting platforms when they’re not covering the Nets. For example, Jefferson has a growing presence across social media and at ESPN. Ian Eagle covers national NBA games, the NFL on CBS, and college basketball.
The Wolves were able to pluck Grady from the larger New York market. He has plenty of experience covering basketball and was becoming due for this enormous opportunity. Now he will be a front-facing member of the team as part of the broadcast crew. Grady has paid his dues and was going to have a tough time cracking the top tier of the Nets broadcast with the outstanding crew they have in place. He can now be the main man rather than having to share time with the rest of Brooklyn’s YES crew.
Grady joins the class of Black Play-By-Play announcers in the NBA that makes up under 15% covering a league that is 73.2% African American. Grady has everything it takes for the role and now has the chance to make a larger name in the sports media and announcing industry. Bally has instantly placed him around a young, exciting Wolves team with electric players. He steps into the more prominent role as the play-by-play on the merits of his past in Brooklyn.
Wolves fans should look forward to the start of the season. Not only do they have a new-look team after the Rudy Gobert trade, but they also get to hear the insight from Grady throughout the season. They’ve picked up an up-and-coming personality within the industry before others could attempt to recruit him elsewhere. He has been a jack-of-all-trades personality throughout his career and can finally bring it all to the table with this tremendous opportunity.
Look forward to the Wolves’ highlight plays all over your TV and social media with the sounds of Michael Grady coming soon.
