On sports media: Wolves TV voice could land NBA gigs with Amazon and NBC
Michael Grady added NBA play-by-play work with ESPN this season. His national role reportedly could be expanded in 2025-26.
Michael Grady/Instagram
The decision not to retain Dave Benz as the Timberwolves’ television voice three years ago surprised many when it was made. Benz had been calling games alongside analyst Jim Petersen for 10 seasons and the two had garnered plenty of positive reviews. This was impressive considering the pair spent much of their time together calling games for a losing team.
It took three months for Benz’s replacement to be named. Michael Grady wasn’t a familiar name in the Twin Cities and this was his first opportunity to do NBA play-by-play on a full-time basis. What seemed like a risk by Wolves and Bally Sports North (now FanDuel Sports Network) executives, has turned into a home run hire.
Grady combines fantastic pipes with the ability to provide a smooth call of the action and set up Petersen in a conversational and entertaining way. His talent hasn’t gone unnoticed by network executives.
Grady worked a package of NBA games for ESPN this season and Front Office Sports reported Thursday that Grady is expected to be named the No. 1 WNBA announcer for Amazon Prime as the streaming service begins carrying games in 2026. The plan also is for Grady to work NBA games for Amazon beginning next season.
Grady’s national work might not end there.
Grady also has had talks to do NBA and WNBA games for NBC, according to Front Office Sports. It’s possible Grady could work for both Amazon and NBC. Amazon will pay $1.8 billion annually and Comcast-owned NBC will pay $2.5 billion a year as part of an 11-year contract that also will include ESPN and be worth a total of $76 billion.
Grady’s schedule could get hectic — he missed a few Wolves telecasts this season for his ESPN assignments — but it remains to be seen what type of a schedule he would work.