Jim Durham (February 12, 1947 – November 4, 2012) was an American sportscaster. Durham was born in Chicago, IL, and graduated from Donovan High School in Donovan, IL, and later attended Illinois State University in Normal, IL.

Career

Durham spent more than 37 years calling NBA games on TV and radio; his previous assignments were with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

, the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. The ...

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

and TBS. With the Bulls, he was the

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present In linguis ...

announcer when

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

Scottie Pippen Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with th ...

, and their teammates won the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

NBA championship. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, Durham called men's NCAA basketball tournament games for CBS.

Early career

Early in his career, Durham worked on WJBC radio in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, Illinois, Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomingto ...

. During his time there, he covered the career of

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

basketball star Doug Collins, later coincidentally the coach of the Bulls during the early Jordan years in Chicago, including the famous call listed below.

NBA career

Durham was the play-by-play voice of the

from 1973 to 1991. During his first twelve years covering the ballclub, he was exclusively on the radio broadcasts on

WIND Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...

(1973–1980, 1982–1985),

WVON WVON (1690 AM "The Voice of the Nation", originally "Voice of the Negro") is a radio station serving the Chicago market, which airs an African-American-oriented talk format. WVON is owned by Midway Broadcasting Corporation, and broadcasts at 169 ...

(1980–1982) and

WGCI-FM WGCI-FM (107.5 MHz) is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia (formerly known as Clear Channel Communicatio ...

(1981–1982; shared arrangement with WVON). Primarily working solo, he was paired with

Norm Van Lier Norman Allen Van Lier III (April 1, 1947 – February 26, 2009) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster who spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls. Early life Norman Van Lier was born in East L ...

in 1980–81 and Dave Baum in 1982–83. For the remainder of his time in Chicago beginning with the 1985–86 season, he and

Johnny Kerr John Graham "Red" Kerr (July 17, 1932 – February 26, 2009) was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching a ...

handled the

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simult ...

on WMAQ (1985–1988) and WLUP (1988–1991) on the radio and

WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV o ...

/ SportsVision (1985–1989) and WGN/

SportsChannel Chicago Fox Sports Net Chicago (often branded as FSN Chicago) was an American regional sports network that was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and was owned by Cablevision for most of its history (from 1987 to 2005). News Corporation acquired a minori ...

(1989–1991) on television. Five weeks after being relegated back to radio only on May 29, 1991, Durham was dismissed on July 3 as a result of a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to ...

dispute with Bulls management. He was succeeded by

Wayne Larrivee Wayne Larrivee is an American sportscaster. Larrivee is currently the radio play-by-play voice of the Green Bay Packers on the Packers Radio Network alongside color commentator Larry McCarren and calls college football and basketball for the ...

(WGN) and

Tom Dore Tom Dore is a retired American basketball player and former Comcast SportsNet play-by-play announcer for the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. A native of Northlake, Illinois, the 7'2" (218 cm) Dore played basketball at Eas ...

(SportsChannel) on televisionNidetz, Steve. "After 18 Years, Bulls Fire Durham," ''Chicago Tribune'', Thursday, July 4, 1991.
/ref> and Neil Funk on the radio. Starting in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, he called numerous

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

games for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN" ...

The Shot

Durham's most memorable call was for "

The Shot The Shot was a basketball play that occurred during a 1989 playoff game between the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It took place on May 7, 1989 at Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Townsh ...

" made by

in Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference First Round between the Bulls and Cavs:

Major League Baseball

Durham also did play-by-play for

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

, first in the 1980s for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, then from

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

–

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

and for

from

until his death in 2012.

Death

Durham died on November 4, 2012 due to complications from a heart attack.

References

External links

Jim Durham ESPN Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durham, Jim National Basketball Association broadcasters People from Chicago Chicago Bulls announcers Durham Jim Houston Astros announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Dallas Mavericks announcers National Football League announcers Green Bay Packers announcers Illinois State Redbirds basketball 1947 births 2012 deaths College basketball announcers in the United States