Michael Baiamonte is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

announcer. He is the current public address voice of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, a position he has held since 1990.

Career

In addition to being the Heat's public address announcer, Baiamonte has hosted several events for various organizations and corporations as an emcee. Such organizations he has emceed for include

Top Rank Boxing Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...

Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide. The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

, and

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is the public school district serving Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida, the largest in the South ...

. Nevertheless, Baiamonte is best known for being the arena voice for the Heat. He has seen his team make seven appearances in the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, winning the

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

in 2006, 2012, and 2013. The

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

media has praised his unique style and creativity, referring to him as "One of the Most Recognizable Voices in the South Florida Sports Market". Baiamonte has also received recognition from national media outlets, such as

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

, who referred to his "Good Mourning!" call for an

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

dunk as "The best call by a Public Address Announcer". His style includes stretching long vowels for trademark phrases. An example is the game introduction of "And Now Stand Up and make some Noise...For your Miami Heat!" Some of Baiamonte's other signature calls include, "Too Many Steps!", "Three!", and at two minutes left in a quarter, "Two minutes... Dos! Minutos!". On May 10, 2012, the Miami Heat publicly apologized for a call that Baiamonte made during a playoff game against the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. In Game 2 of the series, Knicks forward

Amar'e Stoudemire Amar'e Carsares Stoudemire (born November 16, 1982) is an American-Israeli professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a player development assistant for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NB ...

injured his left hand when he punched a fire-extinguisher case. In Game 5, Baiamonte announced Stoudemire had been "extinguished" when he was disqualified with his sixth foul. ''Last night at our game, our PA Announcer had a momentary lapse of judgment and used a poor choice of words in describing Amar'e Stoudemire's fouling out of the game. This is not who we are as an organization or who he is as an announcer. Both the Miami Heat and Michael Baiamonte apologize to Amar'e and the New York Knicks for the inappropriate choice of words.''

Personal life

Baiamonte and his wife, Natalie, have 3 daughters and live in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

References

External links

Baiamonte profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baiamonte, Michael Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Miami Heat NBA public address announcers People from Palmetto Bay, Florida Gulliver Preparatory School alumni Sportspeople from Miami-Dade County, Florida