PHOENIX — Al McCoy, the legendary radio broadcaster for the Phoenix Suns, has died, the organization announced Saturday. He was 91.
McCoy was the longest-tenured team broadcaster in NBA history. In Arizona, he was an icon, as synonymous with the Suns as Charles Barkley, Steve Nash and Devin Booker. He was a member of the organization’s Ring of Honor and recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
With professionalism and enthusiasm, McCoy connected fans to Arizona’s original pro sports franchise. His trademark phrases — “Shazam!” after a made 3-pointer and “Heartbreak Hotel” after a close loss — were part of every fan’s vocabulary. Suns owner Mat Ishbia called him the heartbeat of the organization.
“Al McCoy was a master of his craft,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “… He entertained generations of fans with his distinct delivery and unbridled love for the game and was a beloved friend to so many of us in the NBA community.”
McCoy called Suns games for 51 years. The Suns played at two locations during that stretch. They went through 19 head coaches. They reached the NBA Finals in 1976, 1993 and 2021, losing each time. Throughout it all, McCoy was the constant. The voice of reason. The voice of perspective. And sometimes, when it came to the officiating, the voice of frustration.
“With Al, it’s like you’re sitting there watching and listening to the game with your grandfather,” Barkley told The Arizona Republic in 2017.
Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor member and legendary radio play-by-play announcer Al McCoy has passed away peacefully at the age of 91 💜🧡
📰: https://t.co/Ml2GHeWidO pic.twitter.com/SSHOUdO17B
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) September 21, 2024
Former Suns coach Earl Watson once said that when Arizona kids recreate game-winning plays on the playground — 3 … 2 … 1 … — it’s McCoy’s voice they hear in their heads. In some places, the soundtrack of basketball is squeaky high-tops in a fieldhouse gymnasium. In Arizona, it was McCoy.
“We lost one of my heroes,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer, who grew up in Holbrook, Ariz., said in a statement. “I can still hear Al’s voice in our living room and backyard calling the plays of Sweet D (Walter Davis), Westy (Paul Westphal) and Double A (Alvan Adams) … SHAZAM!!! He brought the Suns into my life like he did for generations of kids across Arizona.”
Born April 26, 1933, in the small Iowa farming town of Williams (McCoy’s senior class had just 15 students), McCoy fell in love with radio broadcasting at a young age. His first radio job came during his freshman year at Drake University. In 1956, he became the radio voice for the Triple-A Phoenix Giants in Arizona. For years, McCoy thought he would stick with baseball. But then the Suns, a franchise still in its infancy, called, and his life changed.
Throughout the years, McCoy had chances to jump to Major League Baseball, but each time he declined, politely telling organizations that his heart belonged to basketball. In an industry laced with turnover, he became a fixture, earning respect of players and coaches. Booker, in particular, formed a strong bond with the broadcaster. In 2022, after the Suns set the franchise record for wins in a single season, Booker gave McCoy a signed jersey.
“I had the privilege of Al McCoy narrating the first eight years of my career,” Booker said in a statement. “He was inducted into the Ring of Honor my second season, and it was then I really understood what a special talent he was. And over the course of my career, I’ve learned what an even more special person he was. We will miss Al, and I am so glad our legacies in Phoenix are forever connected.”
McCoy called his last game for the Suns on May 11, 2023. As he signed off from his spot in Footprint Center, fans lined up, catching one final glimpse of a legend at work.
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
