Part 1 with Al McCoy: Favorite broadcasters, memorable interviews and lasting friendships

The legendary McCoy is about to conclude his 48th season as the Voice of the Suns.

Al McCoy has acquired a massive range of experiences during his broadcasting career.

Calling a game remotely from Phoenix, while the Suns play inside a “bubble” environment in Orlando, following a nearly four-month layoff during a pandemic? That’s new. 

And yet, McCoy can still draw from his past. 

“Early in my career, I had to recreate baseball games,” McCoy told me last week. “So this is kind of a similar situation. We’re just starting to get it organized. … You have to have a good imagination. Of course, you have to be accurate with the basketball. 

“It will be a challenge, but we’ve got a month (to figure it out).” 

The legendary McCoy is about to conclude his 48th season as the Voice of the Suns. We recently spoke by phone on a variety of topics, including the NBA restart, his memorable broadcasting moments, his closest friends within the Suns organization and how he’s been spending his time in quarantine. 

Here is Part 1:  

Gina Mizell: What are you most curious to see from the Suns during the games in Orlando? 

Al McCoy: It’s going to be very interesting, because you’d have to think that the veteran teams would have an edge, because at least they have played together. They’re gonna have just a short time to really work on things, and they can’t really do much together. And, of course, the Suns will be without one of their starting forwards (Kelly Oubre Jr.), which is certainly not going to help the cause. It’s a challenge for them. It’s going to be very interesting to see how they’re gonna be able to put it together under very adverse conditions. I think we’re all curious to see how Deandre Ayton comes back, because of his up-and-down season that he had. So I think, certainly, we’re anxious to see that. Devin Booker has been the key, but I think, probably more than anything, we’ll be watching how Deandre Ayton responds. 

GM: How have you been spending your time in quarantine, while the NBA has been on hiatus? 

AM: I try not to get up too early. Because if I do, it seems like the day’s never gonna come to an end. I do not watch any news, because I don’t want to hear what those people have to say. I do not turn on television during the daytime at all. When I’m up in the morning, I have my green tea and I read a number of newspapers around the country — not necessarily concentrating on the virus, but on other things happening in the sports world and entertainment world, etcetera. I try and get out a few times during the week at lunch time and go to a drive-thru and pick up some lunch to bring home. Then in the afternoon, I read. I’ve gone back to read “24 Seconds to Shoot,” that great basketball book that I read years ago. I read Roger Kahn’s great book “The Boys of Summer” that came out in 1972. I hadn’t read it since then. Then, my big moment is at 5 o’clock, when I watch Perry Mason in black and white. That’s my big thrill. Two Perry Mason episodes in black and white. That’s the first time I turn on the TV. And then, at 7 o’clock, I’ll make myself a sandwich or a salad, then probably find a movie to watch. And that’s my day. Basically, my days are not too exciting. 

GM: I think we can all relate to using the time to catch up on books or TV shows. I used to try to get out for walks, but now it’s too hot.

AM: I have a pretty-good-sized house I can walk (around in). I try and not just be seated all day long and try and get up and walk around. Of course, there’s usual things you have to do — go to the post office to mail some things, or maybe to the bank to try and take out some money. The days are pretty routine, and they get pretty boring. Being in the business that I’ve been in, you miss being around people. You miss being around your friends. You miss being around the players, the coaches, the media. Maybe those are those are the little things that you miss the most. 

GM: You’ve now seen thousands of NBA games. But what’s your favorite part of a game day? 

AM: The most exciting to me, still, is when they throw the ball up and it starts. I still love the game. I think the NBA game is the best of all the professional sports. As I like to say, in the other sports, you see things happen. A big play in baseball or a home run. Football, you see a long pass or a great run. But in the NBA, there’s a great play every 24 seconds. I still get the excitement, even after all those years, when they throw the ball up to start the game and it’s underway. That’s a great feeling. I still enjoy it.

GM: Who are some of your favorite broadcasters of all time, and who are some current broadcasters that you really enjoy? 

AM: Oh jeez, those are such tough questions. As you know, I grew up on a farm in Iowa in the late stages of the Depression. We had no electricity and no running water, but we had a battery radio. So, as a youngster, I used to listen to all the sporting events, all the great broadcasters of that era. Bill Stern, who did the football games. Don Dunphy, who did all the big fights that were on radio in those days. Certainly, they had a lot of influence on me. Harry Caray was in St. Louis doing the Cardinals. Bert Wilson was the radio voice of the Cubs, and we could get the Cub games in Iowa. He was my favorite broadcaster as I was growing up. Jack Brickhouse, who also was involved with the Cubs, was one of my great favorites during those years. 

Then, of course, through the years, there have been so many. Chick Hearn, who became a good friend. Although, Chick and I actually met when I was at Drake University and he was (broadcasting) Bradley University (games) in Peoria, Illinois. Then we both went to the NBA, and Chick was one of my closest friends. We broadcast a couple of NBA All-Star games together on radio. I think he influenced many of us that broadcast NBA basketball. And, of course, when we start talking about announcers, obviously Vin Scully is the name that comes foremost to almost everybody’s mind. Although he was a very versatile announcer, obviously he’ll always be known as the voice of the LA Dodgers and a great baseball announcer.

Things have changed in broadcasting so much, that I probably still go back to those earlier years when those broadcasters were more influential than probably some of the ones that are broadcasting today. The business has changed so much, with two or three broadcasters on a game and the analysts and the color announcers really having more input than the play-by-play announcers. 

NBA History @NBAHistory

In 2007, Al McCoy received the prestigious Gowdy Award from @Hoophall. Tonight, he will become the 15th member of the @Suns Ring of Honor

GM: What’s your ideal way to spend an off day on the road?

AM: I’m probably different than a lot of the broadcasters. Because having been in these cities so many times, I’ve gone to all those (tourist) places, those places of interest that you think about when you go to cities around the country. So, basically, probably in the past 10 years-plus, when I’m on the road and have a day off, I just look forward to getting together with some friends and finding the best restaurant in that city and enjoying a nice night out.

GM: Who is your most memorable postgame interview?  

AM: We used to do a lot more player interviews. Now, in recent years, they have kind of gone away. One thing that I always remember was when Julius Erving was at his peak, we were playing in Philadelphia. I was doing TV at that time, and we always had a player on our postgame show. I had asked the Philadelphia PR people that, if Philadelphia won, I would like to get one of their players. That was what we were going to set up. The game was over, and Philadelphia had won. The public relations person for the Sixers rushed out and said, “Well I can’t get any player to come out to do an interview.” I said, “Just get somebody. Tell them it’ll just be for a couple of minutes. Tell them Al McCoy from Phoenix wants somebody just to do a walk-on.” He said, “Well, I don’t know. I’ll see what I can do.” So he took off, and in about three minutes, guess who comes walking out of the locker room to do the interview? Julius Erving. I always remember that. He was a terrific interview, obviously. But to have him come out when other players were too busy or didn’t want to do it shows you the type of individual that he was. 

GM: Which relationships that you’ve formed during your years with the Suns stand out the most? 

AM: Obviously, after Dick Van Arsdale retired as a player, he worked with me on our broadcasts for the next 15 years. Dick Van became, and always was, one of my closest friends. Certainly, Cotton Fitzsimmons, who was in so many different aspects (of the organization) as a coach, as a front-office person, that people may forget that Cotton worked with me both on television and radio as an analyst many, many times through the years. We were both Midwest guys — me being from Iowa, Cotton from Missouri. So we were very, very close. Great friends. I miss him every day, every day, every day. Then, of course, my traveling companion for so many years was the trainer/traveling secretary for the Suns, Joe Proski. He certainly would be in that category, and he’s still one of my best friends today. 

GM: Give me a story about each of those three guys. 

AM: One of the great Joe Proski stories is, when I started with the Suns, he had no assistants. There were no assistant coaches, either. Joe handled all of the travel, and we were traveling commercial. So if we were on the road, he would get all of the boarding passes. Then, as we were heading for our gate, he would hand out the passes. Even in those days, players were never satisfied with the seat assignment that they had. We were in Detroit and heading for the gate, and most all the players were walking with us and I was walking with Joe, and he had all of the cards. He started handing out the boarding passes, and players were saying, “Oh, I don’t want to be in 9C.” or, “I don’t want to be in 4D.” He listened, and pretty soon, he just took all of the boarding passes and threw them up in the air and said, “Good luck. I’ll see you guys on the flight.” I see all these 6-foot guys down on their hands and knees trying to find their boarding passes. One of Joe Proski’s great moves, believe me. 

When Dick Van retired and was going to work with me, we were doing simulcast on TV and radio. The first game that he was gonna work, our opening game, was in Portland. He was kind of a nervous wreck the night before. The day of the game, we were doing an on-camera open. Since he was a little bit taller than I am, we would have Dick Van lean on a chair, so that when we were on camera, it looked like we were similar heights. We were out on the edge of the court to do this on-camera open, and just as we went on camera and I started to do the open, I saw him grab his leg. I realized that, as he was crunching down on this chair, he had gotten this big Charley horse cramp in his leg and he could hardly talk. So I wrapped up the open quickly, and then we left to go around the get in our seat behind the table where we were gonna broadcast from. I looked at him as we sat down and I said, “Hey, Van, now you know the tough part of this business. It’s not out there running up and down the court with a basketball. This is the tough part of the business.”

The Cotton story is so Cotton. We were playing in Washington. Before the game, they had had a lot of humidity and it was a very warm, damp day. It was late in the season. The floor was very wet, and so they had to delay the game. Now, here we are on live television. I can’t remember what channel we were on at that time, but it was not a network, so there was no one for us to throw it back to. Cotton and I had to stay on the air for about 45 to 50 minutes, live, on camera. They finally did decide to postpone the game, but I said I was so thankful, because I had Cotton. And Cotton could talk. He interviewed everyone who was still in the building. Every coach. Every player. Every referee. Everybody that could talk. I always told him, that was his biggest night — when he filled almost an hour, almost by himself. I just turned it over to him, and he could talk. That was Cotton at his best. 

(Note: These questions were answered over the course of two separate conversations, and are edited slightly for length and clarity)