993 above

Thanks for the input Boti

The problem basketball has had with the media is that any coverage the sport has gotten throughout its history, its had different people head up the coverage. And its mostly football personalities that work on the network and have been assigned the basketball gig, as part of their contract.

So, no there has never been a Les Murray equivalent to basketball. Because basketball has never had the stability to be on one channel over the last 35 years or had the respect to have its own people covering it. Boti would be close but hes never been on TV (as far as im aware)

Steve Carfino does not count. He is no where near at the level that Les Murray was.

^ thanks anon! I guess from a local point of view (Perth) someone like the late John Gardiner comes to mind. He basically covered all Wildcats home games from their inception through to the late 90s and his background was all about basketball. He probably wasnt that well known though unfortunately.

Dennis Cometti possibly too, though he will obviously be remembered for football first and foremost.

Steve Carfino does not count. He is no where near at the level that Les Murray was.

John Gardiner (RIP) had such a soothing voice, and was a lifelong basketball devotee to top it all off.

Everyone seems to be forgetting about John Casey.

He had his own thread on many forums for his "Caseyisms" such as " 2 pieces of the iron", "Puts the lid on 2 more" , & of course the classic , " Shot clock now down to single numbers"

None of the NBL options have an avenue to hit the public quite like soccer's World Cup. That routinely gave his name and voice national exposure. There is no equivalent for NBL contenders like Carfino or Casey.

Outside of Boti, no other identity has had the longevity/persistence with written coverage. It's a big step down to someone like Roy Ward - and who else after that? It helped that Boti was singularly focused on basketball which is a rare thing within Australia and I don't know that we'll see it again in modern media.

I think there's 2 aspects to the OP's question to consider.

We as a basketball following community know Boti as the closest to a Les Murray for basketball. Outside of that, what non or casual fan would know who Boti is ? (Apart from any SA people who see his name in the papers you have over there).

As a general public, Casey would be the closest to recognisable because of his distinctive style & voice. I would dare say that anyone hearing him call other sports may just simply ask, " Hey. Isn't he teh dude that used to call NBL matches?"

In SA, sports fans who are not core NBL followers tend to know Boti from reading the sports news over the last 10-20 years. Doubt he has a profile outside of basketball interstate.

Exactly.

Hence why on a public level nation wide Casey would have a higher overall profile when it comes to basketball.

The real face of bball in Australia would be Andrew Gaze.

Well ....

Technically Les WAS an ex player.

He played for my mighty St George Budapest in its early years when it was still a part time State Comp in the 60s.

Just that part was not well known. Not even to me who knew a decent amount about Les Murray.

What about Brian Kerle, he did heaps of media, on top of playing and coaching and administration.
Andrew Gaze has done a lot of media at Olympics and NBL finals etc..

BK all busy with his academy doubt he has the time