Kevin Paul Calabro (born June 27, 1956) is an American sportscaster based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. The longtime voice of the former Seattle SuperSonics NBA franchise, Calabro has primarily called NBA basketball but has also announced collegiate football (alongside Yogi Roth) and basketball as well as MLS soccer. From 2016 to 2020, he served as the television play-by-play voice for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. He rejoined the Portland Trail Blazers as the Play-By-Play Voice for the 2021–22 season after stepping down in 2020 to be with his family in order to avoid exposure to COVID-19. As of the 2015–16 season, Calabro is the lead play-by-play announcer for NBA on

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically 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 banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

, including NBA Finals games in 2007, 2014 and 2016 alongside personalities such as

Jack Ramsay John Travilla Ramsay (February 21, 1925 – April 28, 2014) was an American basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack" (as he held an earned doctorate). He was best known for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, ...

and

Hubie Brown Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Bas ...

. Calabro has done ESPN radio play-by-play for the NBA Conference Finals for a decade in addition to being a regular contributor to TNT's NBA broadcasts. Calabro worked college basketball and football games for the

Pac-12 Network The Pac-12 Network (P12N), sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks, was an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities were headquartere ...

and postseason college basketball for Westwood One Sports, including NCAA tournament action.

Career

Calabro is a 1974 graduate of Ben Davis High School in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana. He called high school basketball games in Indiana on WBDG. He graduated from

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

(1978) where he called Butler Bulldog basketball for four years. Calabro had stops in the Central Hockey League, where he broadcast games for the

Indianapolis Checkers The Indianapolis Checkers were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Indianapolis, Indiana. The Checkers' home arena was the Fairgrounds Coliseum from 1981 to 1985 and Market Square Arena from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1985 to 1987. T ...

, as well as at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

where he called basketball games. He began his professional career as the play-by-play announcer for the

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

in the 1983–84 season. In the 1987–88 season, Calabro came on board with the SuperSonics alongside the SuperSonics original play-by-play announcer Bob Blackburn. He became the team's sole play-by-play announcer in 1992, following the retirement of Blackburn. Calabro reached a milestone 1,500 games in 2006. Calabro had an option with the SuperSonics for the 2008–09 season. However, on April 11, 2008, Calabro stated he would not continue with the team should they relocate to Oklahoma City, which they ultimately did. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named him "Sportscaster of the Year" for the state of Washington in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006. Calabro became lead play-by-play personality for the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

, a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

franchise, in its first year. Calabro was honored with the 2016 Keith Jackson Sports Media Excellence Award during the 81st Annual Sports Star of the Year Awards. Calabro has done work on the national level with

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, TBS,

, and

NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through TNT Sports. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular se ...

. He has also lent his voice to several

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

games, including '' NBA Inside Drive'', '' NBA Full Court Press'', and '' NFL Fever'' and more recently has been the play-by-play voice of the Sony

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

NBA game franchise. Calabro's brother, David Calabro, is a sportscaster and the sports director with the NBC-affiliate station

WTHR WTHR (channel 13) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power, Class A television service, Class A MeTV affiliate WALV-CD ( ...

in Indianapolis, as well as the public address announcer at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calabro, Kevin College football announcers 1956 births Living people American soccer commentators College basketball announcers in the United States Butler University alumni ESPN people NBA broadcasters NFL announcers Portland Trail Blazers announcers Sacramento Kings announcers Seattle Seahawks announcers Seattle SuperSonics announcers People from Indianapolis High school basketball announcers in the United States Major League Soccer broadcasters