Michael Grady News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/michael-grady/ Minnesota sports, but different Thu, 10 Jul 2025 20:34:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg Michael Grady News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/michael-grady/ 32 32 TV Voice of Timberwolves Scaling Back Local Duties https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-timberwolves/michael-grady-joins-amazon-nba-broadcast-team/ Thu, 10 Jul 2025 20:08:53 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=64842 The Minnesota Timberwolves have made significant strides in the relevancy department the past couple of seasons. They have reeled off back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals and hope that’s only the beginning.

The changing of hands at the ownership level is now complete. With Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore now in the driver’s seat, the Wolves have mostly operated as normal.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly is expected to get extended. Unfortunately, Nickeil Alexander-Walker became a luxury tax casualty, but the Wolves did sign both Julius Randle and Naz Reid to long-term contract extensions.

Could there be other changes now that Lore and A-Rod have officially taken over? Yes, but one change that was made public on Thursday wasn’t something they were hoping to see happen.

Michael Grady scaling back work with Minnesota Timberwolves for more national work

Michael Grady was hired to be the new play-by-play TV voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves prior to the 2022-23 season. In the two years he has called Wolves games, his rise to stardom has been nearly instant, which has caught the attention of NBA’s national broadcast partners.

Last year, Grady dabbled in some national work with ESPN. Today, it was announced that he will join Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, and Eric Collins as a play-by-play broadcaster on the NBA’s new Amazon Prime platform.

Of course, Michael Grady’s new opportunity will mean scaling back his local work with the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski.

Related: Former, Current Wolves Owners Uninterested in Buying Minnesota Twins

Former play-by-play broadcaster Dave Benz joined Jim Petersen on the Minnesota Timberwolves TV games during the 2012-13 season, a job he held for a decade, before the Wolves let his contract expire and hired Grady before the ’02-’03 season. Petersen has been Minnesota’s color commentator since 2003-04.

Grady joined the MN Timberwolves after being a member of the Brooklyn Nets broadcast team. He worked as a sideline reporter and host for five years while just occasionally doing play-by-play.

The Timberwolves have had Grady calling their games through this era of resurgence, behind the star power of Anthony Edwards and blockbuster front office moves by Tim Connelly, variables that have only increased Michael’s popularity as a play-by-play voice.

Where do the MN Timberwolves turn for a replacement?

Finding someone to replace a talent as good as Michael Grady will be tough. There are some logical options. Marney Gellner could step in as she already works Minnesota Lynx games. Alan Horton has done play-by-play for the radio broadcast each of the past 17 seasons. Sloane Martin also has Lynx play-by-play experience and could be an option.

An out-of-the-box option could be to bring back Dave Benz for the games where Grady isn’t available, though he and the Timberwolves didn’t part on the best terms. Nonetheless, Benz had built up major rapport with the fanbase, who was sad to see him go.

No matter what, it’s a good thing that Michael Grady isn’t leaving the Timberwolves altogether. The bad news is that this is just the latest in what will be a future of endless opportunities. At the end of the day, however, the Minnesota Timberwolves likely knew Grady had talent that wasn’t going to stick around long-term.

]]> Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:34:00 +0000 Minnesota Timberwolves Minnesota Timberwolves Announcer Lands a Couple More Jobs https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-timberwolves/michael-grady-joins-amazon-now-what/ Thu, 08 May 2025 18:07:51 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=63027 The Minnesota Timberwolves will play game two of their western conference semifinal playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. With Steph Curry out due to a hamstring strain, the Wolves enter tonight as -10 point favorites, but trail in the series 0-1.

There was only one thing that Timberwolves fans missed more in game one than seeing their team with a lead — something they never owned after the first quarter — and that’s regular season TV broadcasters Michael Grady and Jim Peterson.

Instead, we got TNT’s Brian Anderson and Stan Van Gundy, who coached in the NBA for 25 seasons, and who now might be the worst color commentator in all of sports right now.

Van Gundy knew so little about the ins and outs of the Timberwolves season and roster the other night, that I can’t imagine he did much of any research whatsoever, prior to game one. And now, Stan and his TNT crew are back on the call for game two…

FanDuel Sports Network North is done covering Minnesota Timberwolves playoff games in 2025. FDSN’s play by play voice for the past two seasons, Michael Grady, wasn’t on the call for FanDuel Sports Network’s Wolves coverage in round one, because he was calling first round playoff games for ESPN.

Michael Grady lands play by play job with Amazon

Grady started with the MN Timberwolves prior to the 2022-23 season. Three years later, it’s becoming increasingly unclear as to whether or not the former Brooklyn Nets sideline reporter — and now one of the rising stars in NBA play by play — will be back calling Wolves games for FanDuel Sports Network North at all next season.

On Thursday, in a report by Ryan Glasspiegel (Front Office Sports), news broke that Michael Grady has landed a job with Amazon, as part of their WNBA and NBA coverage for next season. Not only is he now one of the top guys for Amazon’s basketball coverage, but he has also been in talks with NBC about joining their new NBA broadcast crew as well.

Michael Grady is expected to become Amazon’s top WNBA announcer in addition to calling NBA games for the tech giant’s Prime Video streaming service, sources tell Front Office Sports. The deal has not been finalized.

In an interesting wrinkle, Grady has also had talks to call NBA and WNBA games for NBC, FOS has learned. In this potential arrangement, it’s possible Grady would work for both Amazon and NBC.

Ryan Glasspiegel – Front Office Sports

What is Grady’s future with the Minnesota Timberwolves

Grady, 42, will join a star-studded broadcast lineup for Amazon’s upcoming NBA coverage — which holds rights to the NBA Finals in 2028, 2032 and 2036 — includes Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan on play by play, as well as Taylor Rooks, Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade, Candace Parker and Steve Nash, according to Glasspiegel’s report at FOS.

Related: Chris Finch Puts Anthony Edwards on Blast After Timberwolves Loss

There has been no information released as to Michael Grady’s future plans as Minnesota Timberwolves play by play voice. He now holds the same national role at ESPN and Amazon. Especially if Grady were to get a the job at NBC, how much time will he have on his hands to travel with the Wolves all winter calling their 82-game schedule?

Minnesota Sports Fan has reached out to Michael Grady for comment and/or more information. If he responds, any relevant details he relays will be added to this article. Grady’s broadcast partner at FanDuel Sports Network North, Jim Peterson — who’s been working with Wolves radio at KFAN during the playoffs — tweeted about the promotion this afternoon.

I’m so proud of my guy @Grady for landing this groundbreaking national broadcast deal. Michael will be the Breen, Eagle, Harlan of his generation with few peers.

I have so much gratitude to have worked with him for the past 3 years and hope to continue working as many Wolves games as his schedule permits in the future.

Congratulations Grady…you are the best!

]]> Thu, 08 May 2025 13:21:56 +0000 Minnesota Timberwolves TV Voice of Minnesota Timberwolves Lands National Job https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-timberwolves/minnesota-timberwolves-news/michael-grady-hired-espn/ Tue, 15 Oct 2024 02:32:35 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=56096 The Minnesota Timberwolves are preparing for a season with greater expectations than anything Wolves fans have seen since maybe Jimmy Butler’s first year. Possibly 2003-2004, when Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. That year they rolled through to the Western Conference Finals and earned the No. 1 seed.

But it’s possible expectations are higher now than they ever have been. Anthony Edwards is expected to take another step in his development. Overall, ESPN BPI loves their team, especially after trading away Karl-Anthony Towns. Most pundits have the Minnesota Timberwolves as one of a handful of real NBA title contenders for 2024-25.

And for the last two seasons, there has been a different voice narrating the rise of the new era Wolves, under president of basketball operations Tim connelly. Michael Grady was hired as Timberwolves TV play-by-play voice prior to the 2022-23 season, after Dave Benz’ contract was not renewed.

Minnesota Timberwolves play-by-play TV voice Michael Grady hired by ESPN

On Sunday, Grady called Minnesota vs New York for ESPN’s preseason broadcast. Monday, news broke that Grady has inked another promotion, this time at ESPN. He will call 18 games at the four-letter network in 2024-25. None of them will clomp on his local duties at (for now) Bally Sports North.

Mike Breen, who has called a record 19 NBA Finals, will continue to lead ESPN’s NBA play-by-play coverage in the season ahead. In addition, Ryan Ruocco, Dave Pasch and Mark Jones return in their play-by-play roles. Michael Grady will join ESPN’s NBA coverage as a play-by-play voice this season.

ESPN announcement

Prior to getting the job as Minnesota Timberwolves play-by-play voice for Bally Sports North, Michael Grady worked for the YES Network, working Brooklyn Nets games, mostly as a sideline reporter. Now, those days look long gone, as he joins one of the most well-known national broadcasts on the basketball planet.

Grady was a great hire; Dave Benz never should have been let go

I wrote when it happened, and still believe it to this day. Dave Benz did nothing to warrant his firing and it’s a shame he does not have a job in the NBA today. He called an entire decade of brutal Timberwolves basketball. As soon as the future brightened, they booted him out.

Related: Julius Randle All Set For Minnesota Timberwolves Debut

That doesn’t mean Michael Grady hasn’t been better than expected. It took him about a half season to get comfortable, but Grady has been one of the better play-by-play guys in the NBA for most of the last year, and he gets better every game.

Now, he’ll get his chance on the big stage.

]]> Mon, 14 Oct 2024 21:38:34 +0000 Minnesota Timberwolves News Minnesota Timberwolves Timberwolves Hire Play-By-Play Voice with Limited Experience https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-timberwolves/timberwolves-hire-play-by-play-voice-with-limited-experience-michael-grady/ Thu, 18 Aug 2022 15:32:26 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=40065 The Minnesota Timberwolves fired their decade-long play-by-play voice, Dave Benz, earlier this offseason, angering the fanbase and much of the local media world. Soon after, it was reported that new owners, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, were looking for a recognizable, big name voice. Someone that even casual sports fans would get excited about.

What other attributes were the Wolves looking for in their next PBP voice? They specifically told media that they wanted somebody whose skin color isn’t white. Well, they checked one of those boxes today when they announced the hiring of YES Network’s sideline reporter and part-time play-by-play commentator, Michael Grady.

YES Network (New York) is, undoubtedly, a larger and better funded local network than Bally Sports North, but Michael Grady isn’t a well-known voice, like some of those who have been floated.

Grady has spent the last five seasons with the YES Network, working sideline duty with the Brooklyn Nets. There’s a funny video of an interview he did with D’Angelo Russell in 2019, where he informs DLo after a win that they clinched a playoff spot.

There’s no doubt Grady has a bright future in broadcasting. He has a great voice and, for a youngster, he has really good flow in his commentating. All and all, fans will be happy with Grady as the new voice of the Wolves. Here he is calling the Nets @ Magic last season, when Kyrie Irving went off for 60 points.

Questionable Hiring Practices

But this hire has to call into question the firing of Dave Benz. Not only did the Timberwolves fail in their search for a well-known basketball voice, like Gus Johnson or Kevin Harlan. But they ended up hiring a young sideline reporter who has very little experience announcing NBA games.

In other words, the Wolves fired a 10-year veteran, who NOBODY was complaining about. A guy who the fans loved and had grown with. Afterward, the team told reporters that being a different color than Benz was an important part of the search criteria, when finding his replacement.

If hiring a Minnesota Timberwolves play-by-play voice and you compared the resumes and fan excitement for Dave Benz vs Michael Grady, Benz would get the job in a landslide. Unless, of course, you’re making the decision strictly based on a candidate’s skin color. Which, I’m pretty sure is illegal.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 13:29:39 +0000 Minnesota Timberwolves