‘Yes!’ Marv Albert, national voice of Bulls’ title years, set to call NBA All-Star Game at United Center

Albert, the play-by-play voice of the Knicks for 37 years, still feels connected to the Bulls after calling those postseason runs. He’ll broadcast his 24th All-Star Game on Sunday.

SHARE ‘Yes!’ Marv Albert, national voice of Bulls’ title years, set to call NBA All-Star Game at United Center
Marv Albert, pictured in May 1996 before a Knicks-Bulls playoff game, called the first five of the six NBA Finals the Bulls won in the 1990s for NBC.

Marv Albert, pictured in May 1996 before a Knicks-Bulls playoff game, called the first five of the six NBA Finals the Bulls won in the 1990s for NBC.

Sun-Times

If you watched Bulls games on TV in the 1990s, you were treated to the greatest moments in franchise history. But you weren’t always treated to the hometown call of them.

In fact, the voice of the Bulls’ crowning achievements belongs to a New Yorker. Marv Albert called the first five of the six NBA Finals the Bulls won that decade for NBC, and he’ll reintroduce himself to the franchise when he calls his 24th All-Star Game on Sunday at the United Center (7 p.m., TNT, TBS, 1000-AM).

Albert, who called his first All-Star Game in 1968, has done plenty of Bulls games since the championship years, but the team hasn’t appeared on his schedule in a while, for obvious reasons. Still, he feels connected to the Bulls after calling those postseason runs.

“It will be great to be back there because there are so many memories for me with both Chicago Stadium and the United Center,” said Albert, 78. “I used to get chills when the music was being played during the lineups, Ray Clay on the PA, the whole thing.”

There also are many calls made by Albert that are embedded in a Bulls fan’s brain.

“I feel sorry for their brain,” he quipped.

Self-deprecation aside, it’s true. There was “A spectacular move” when Michael Jordan moved the ball from his right hand to his left in the air on a layup in the 1991 Finals. There was “Did you see that look? . . . He can’t believe it” after Jordan hit a then-record sixth three-pointer in the first half of a 1992 Finals game and gave his famous shrug toward the broadcast table.

“It was myself, the czar — Mike Fratello — and Magic Johnson doing the game,” Albert said. “I thought he was looking at Magic. Fratello thought he was looking at him. He insists that was the case. [Jordan] had that shrug like, how is this happening? That’s a game I won’t forget.”

There also were countless calls of Albert’s trademark “Yes,” which has its own story.

It came from games in the schoolyard in Brooklyn when Albert was a kid. He’d play three-on-three, and one of his friends would provide commentary. Whenever someone made a basket and was fouled, the friend would shout, “Yes, and it counts.” Turns out, it wasn’t an original line. The kid got it from legendary NBA referee Sid Borgia, who had a catalog of catchphrases.

Albert eventually shortened it and made it his own during a 37-year run as the voice of the Knicks, beginning in 1967. But it happened by accident.

“I remember there was a Knicks playoff game, and Dick Barnett, who was a very good player on the Knicks’ championship teams [in 1970 and ’73], had this jump shot,” Albert said. “I just said, ‘Yes,’ and it seemed to fit when he hit a line-drive jump shot from 20 feet out.

“And then I started incorporating it, and fans started to say it back to me, and players were using it all the time. It just happened to catch on.”

Albert’s distinct voice, unique cadence and dry humor gave him opportunities beyond play-by-play. When he was a sports anchor on WNBC-TV in New York, Albert began appearing on “Late Night With David Letterman” in the 1980s to show sports bloopers, called the “Albert Achievement Awards.” Letterman and Albert not only worked for the same network, their studios were on the same floor.

“He’s a big sports fan, and he used to see I would do [bloopers] on the local news,” Albert said. “He thought it might be really good to do that before a live crowd.”

Letterman was right. The segment was a hit, and it continued when Letterman moved to CBS in 1993. In fact, according to the network, Albert had the most appearances of any guest on Letterman’s “Late Night” on NBC (73) and the fourth-most on his “Late Show” on CBS (53).

Albert’s voice has been heard or imitated on many other TV shows and even cartoons and video games. He’s truly a transcendent broadcaster.

But how much longer will we hear him? Albert has been TNT’s lead voice of the NBA since 1999, but there has been speculation of a changing of the guard for a couple of years.

“I’m taking it year to year,” Albert said. “My contract still has time on it. I feel great and still love every phase of what I do.”

NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS ON TV

FRIDAY

  • “Basketball Stories: ’88 Dunk Contest,” 3 p.m., NBA (Recapping Michael Jordan’s memorable win over Dominique Wilkins at Chicago Stadium.)
  • All-Star Celebrity Game, 6 p.m., ESPN
  • Rising Stars Challenge, 8 p.m., TNT

SATURDAY

  • “NBA Tip-Off,” 4 p.m., TNT
  • Commissioner Adam Silver’s news conference, 6 p.m., NBA
  • All-Star Saturday Night, 7 p.m., TNT (Skills challenge, three-point contest, dunk contest.)
  • “Inside the NBA All-Star Roast,” 9:30 p.m., TNT (Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will be roasted by comedians and former NBA stars.)

SUNDAY

  • “Open Court: Chicago Greats,” 2 p.m., NBA (Featuring Dwyane Wade, Candace Parker, Isiah Thomas, Cappie Pondexter, Tim Hardaway and Mark Aguirre.)
  • “NBA Tip-Off,” 5 p.m., TNT
  • All-Star Game, 7 p.m., TNT, TBS
  • “Inside the NBA,” postgame, NBA
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