Sean Grande on Potenially Becoming Next Celtics Broadcaster: This Year Should About Mike Gorman

CLNS Media Sports Network

In the latest episode of Celtics Beat, Adam Kaufman and Evan Valenti are joined by Celtics Radio Broadcaster Sean Grande to discuss the future of Celtics TV coverage following this season with Mike Gorman retiring.  Will Grande be considered to take on Gorman's mantle?  FULL SHOW: https://youtu.be/AOCmqm8lgbw  This segment of the Celtics Beat Podcast is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook! Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON!  21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.

Transcript

00:00 Tell us, where do we stand?

00:01 Are you the next TV voice of the Boston Celtics?

00:04 - Well, I think I don't want to wet blanket anything.

00:06 I'll say to you what I'm going to be saying to everybody

00:09 and what I've been saying to everybody,

00:10 which is I really think this year should be about Mike.

00:14 I think this is Mike's last go, this is Mike's last run.

00:18 He's been here for 40 years.

00:20 And I think that's what this year should be about.

00:21 Obviously, you know,

00:23 I don't want to get into all the inside baseball nonsense.

00:25 There's complication that is created when Mike misses games

00:29 and then I slide here and then John Wallach,

00:32 who's on with Tutcher and Rich on 98.5.

00:35 All of it is a, you know, it's a complication.

00:37 So to me, the whole thing has been about 2024.

00:40 Mike, you know, sort of made his announcement.

00:43 For those of us on the inside,

00:45 I don't think anybody was surprised.

00:47 It's sort of what we've been expecting for several years,

00:49 that it was going to be 2024.

00:51 So to me, it's a 2024 question.

00:54 I think you guys know, as everybody knows,

00:57 how much I've enjoyed the last couple of years,

01:00 particularly last season was my favorite year of the 22

01:04 I've done with the Celtics and maybe my 25 in the NBA.

01:08 Last year was my personal favorite

01:11 because I got to do both.

01:14 I got to work on both sides and I got to be with Scout

01:17 and with Eddie House and with Abby

01:19 and with Paul Lucy and Jim Evans,

01:21 who are two names behind the scenes who you don't know,

01:23 but they've affected your life as Celtics fans

01:25 far more than you realize,

01:27 because they've been the producer and director

01:28 of the television side for a quarter century.

01:32 And then I was able to slide over

01:34 and keep the thing going with Max,

01:36 as you and I, as the three of us have discussed,

01:38 what made last year kind of fun was,

01:41 Max and I were a little fresher together

01:44 because we weren't doing all 82.

01:46 So I do a couple of games on TV and then come back

01:49 and it was a little more special.

01:51 Plus again, as we've discussed,

01:53 the other side of this is NBA television,

01:57 you're not doing the best games in the regular season

02:00 and you're not doing the playoffs.

02:02 So therein lies, to me,

02:04 that's why last year was awesome too,

02:06 because when it was done and we filled the gap

02:09 on the TV side and I think it created,

02:11 I guess the point is that it created

02:12 different radio broadcasts, different energy there.

02:15 And as I think the number one piece of feedback I got

02:18 last year was how it was a different energy on the TV side.

02:23 And that was great too.

02:23 It just was sort of an influx

02:25 and it was almost the perfect,

02:27 to me it was like the perfect scenario.

02:29 So what happens in 2024, happens in 2024.

02:32 But I think what we learned last year

02:34 is what we've known all along,

02:35 which is that we're just one big team.

02:37 And I think all of us, all the names I just mentioned,

02:40 Max included, we're all interchangeable.

02:42 We could all plug in anywhere.

02:46 - CLNS Media Network is powered by FanDuel Sportsbook.

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02:58 they win in the regular season.

03:00 - To your point, as far as like the whole

03:04 Celtics beat on the forefront thing,

03:05 and obviously it's kind of a joke,

03:07 but with Mike Gorman, I mean, he said two years ago

03:10 what his timeline was going to be on this podcast

03:12 before it started.

03:14 So he has been to your, as you said,

03:16 like he's been pretty upfront

03:18 about what he's been thinking over these years,

03:20 you know, and it's played out here

03:23 to him making that announcement with NBC Sports Boston,

03:27 really the athletic before that.

03:29 If you, I guess asking you to forecast

03:33 how you think it plays out,

03:34 I'm not talking about who does what,

03:35 I'm talking about, do you think the desire

03:38 is we're going to have one TV voice,

03:41 we're going to have one radio voice

03:42 versus what it's been the last couple of years

03:44 where, as you said, schedules have, you know,

03:47 caused you to do this or Wallach to slide in here

03:50 and so on and so forth.

03:51 - I don't know.

03:53 It's too, it's really too early to know.

03:55 We've got, there's a lot of different things

03:57 that we've got to decide.

03:58 All of us have to decide what we want to have happen,

04:01 what everybody's long-term future is on both sides.

04:05 I think that, as you know, as I've said,

04:08 I'm not trying to tip my hand other than saying,

04:11 not just the significant games are important to me.

04:14 The other thing is, and I can announce,

04:17 you want some breaking news,

04:18 I can announce that Max has officially signed his contract.

04:21 So he is back, you know, for multiple years.

04:24 - Excellent.

04:25 - And you don't necessarily want to break up.

04:28 You know, Max and I are a thing, right?

04:31 So I'm not trying to put you off other than to say,

04:36 why not enjoy, if we have the best case scenario

04:39 for this year, which is a lot of some variety,

04:44 let's enjoy that because here's what we do know.

04:46 This will be the last year

04:48 you're going to have Mike in the mix.

04:50 Hopefully not.

04:52 Listen, do I hope he changes his mind

04:53 and does whatever he wants to do forever?

04:56 Yeah, I do.

04:57 I'm all for like, hey, four more years, four more years.

04:59 But Mike gets to do whatever he wants to do

05:01 after the number of years that he's put in.

05:04 So for now, let's enjoy this year

05:08 and let's enjoy, you know,

05:10 I think you guys know what my goal is,

05:12 which is for the Celtics, the Boston Celtics,

05:14 the most storied franchise in NBA history,

05:16 to have the best broadcast,

05:18 whether it be on the radio side or the TV side.

05:21 And I'm going to try to do my part to make sure that happens

05:24 no matter which chair I'm sitting in

05:25 or wearing makeup or not on any given night.

05:29 So that's the plan.

05:31 And when we get to 2024, we'll, you know,

05:35 we'll see where we go from there.

05:37 That's a long time in the world.

05:39 Like I just, I know it's what everybody does.

05:42 What's going to happen when this happens?

05:44 Why not say, if this really is going to be Mike's last year,

05:48 let's enjoy it for what it is.

05:49 - So you blew it.

05:51 That's normally when you give us the,

05:53 I serve at the pleasure of the president

05:55 of the Boston Celtics.

05:56 - And that is the answer.

05:57 Because you're asking me what I want to do.

06:01 I think I've made it pretty clear to everybody

06:03 that the perfect scenario for me

06:05 and what probably is best for the team in a lot of ways

06:08 is that I do both.

06:10 I do as much as I can.

06:11 Like I, you know, you want me,

06:13 people seem to want me on the TV side and that's great,

06:16 but do you want Max and I doing the playoff games

06:18 and the big games in the regular season?

06:21 I've run this for you guys, I think before,

06:23 but it always underscores it to me.

06:26 There was a period of,

06:27 I want to say it was five or six years

06:30 that Mike and Tommy back then

06:32 did not do a single game against LeBron James.

06:34 Now let that sink in for a second.

06:38 - Yeah, it's wild.

06:39 - 'Cause you introduced me,

06:40 'cause I know you love to stick in the word long time,

06:42 right, and I get it.

06:43 I'm fine with it, I've leaned into it.

06:45 I have an 11 year old son who reminds me every day

06:47 how old I am and I get it.

06:49 But being the voice of the Celtics

06:52 means being the voice of the Celtics.

06:54 And are you the voice of the Celtics

06:56 if you're not doing all the good games and the playoffs?

06:59 I don't know.

07:00 We'll deal with all this.

07:01 This is why I usually start and end with,

07:04 I serve at the pleasure of the president

07:05 of the Boston Celtics,

07:06 because whatever they want me to do

07:08 is what I'm sure I'm going to end up doing.

07:12 So when I say I serve, it's true.

07:14 I serve the team, I serve the fans of the team,

07:17 and wherever anybody wants me,

07:20 that's where I'm gonna go.

07:21 - CLNS Media Network is powered by FanDuel Sportsbook.

07:25 Visit fanduel.com/boston and start earning bonus bets

07:30 when you bet on a Super Bowl winner.

07:32 You can get bonus bets every time they win

07:35 in the regular season.

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