How Austin Carr found the second phase of his NBA career in broadcasting (2024)

Austin Carr struggled to hear the faint voices of Cleveland fans during the first half of Game 7 in the 2016 NBA Finals. The Warriors fan base greatly outnumbered the Cavaliers fans sprinkled throughout Oracle Arena, and its collective chanting was too overpowering.

Then J.R. Smith came out in the second half and hit his first three shots, and Carr noticed a faint “Let’s. Go. Cavs. Let’s. Go. Cavs.” As the clock ticked down, Cleveland made its push, and the chants grew louder and louder.

“It was unbelievable. It was a great call. And really what I remember the most is my partner, Fred (McLeod), how he reacted when that whole thing happened. He just broke out in tears,” Carr said.

As time expired, McLeod shouted, “It’s over. Cleveland, celebrate, go crazy because the championship is yours!”

The moment the Cavs broke a 52-year championship drought stands out in the minds of many, especially Carr. He has been a part of the Cavs almost as long as they have been an organization. His career has taken him to different teams and different industries, but since he returned to the franchise’s front office in 1991 then moved back to the broadcast booth in 1997, it has proved to be a perfect fit.

Carr never thought he would make his career in television.

He ended his NBA playing tenure in Washington after the 1980-81 season and happened upon broadcasting by accident. Carr had the chance to work alongside Frank Glieber, who worked for CBS, for a handful of NBA games. He went on to cover Big Ten basketball and the Cavs alongside Nev Chandler during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons.

In terms of gaining experience in the business, Carr was thrown into the proverbial fire, learning on the fly how to be a color analyst and taking his mistakes as they came on the air. He had to master how to smoothly transition out of a topic into a break (when directed by a producer in his earpiece) and when — and when not — to speak. Despite the occasional bumps and bruises, he often turned to a valuable bit of wisdom from Glieber:

“Always be yourself,” Carr recalled. “Never try to be what somebody else wants you to be on the air because it comes over on the air if you’re trying to be something that you’re not.”

After 22 years as the Cavaliers’ full-time TV color analyst on Fox Sports, that piece of advice still guides how Carr, 72, approaches each broadcast. He moved into his role after spending six years as the director of community and business development. At the time, the telecast was split between the team’s production and Fox, and they split up coverage of the games that were shown. Dave Dombrowski, then the vice president of broadcasting for the Cavaliers, said he wanted to add a person with ties to Cleveland to their team.

Carr had been part of the telecasts intermittently since his return to the franchise in 1991, but this moved him into a full-time role as the color analyst. Over the years, Dombrowski, now the team’s director of broadcasting, said Carr’s attitude and level of enthusiasm have yet to change.

“He’s not a traditional color commentator. He’s a cheerleader. He’s a homer. He knows the game. And there are times when during the game, especially when we’re trailing or losing, that’s when he does some of his best work,” Dombrowski said. “It seems like he wants to win more than anybody in the organization, including some of the players. He really used to take every loss to heart.”

Dombrowski used to have to remind Carr of a line that former play-by-play man Joe Tait shared, a point he still uses with all of his broadcasters: While it’s great when your team wins, look at the box score. Your name isn’t there. You had nothing to do with the outcome. Just report the game, and say what you see.

“That’s what we try to encourage Austin to do — but not ever lose that enthusiasm he has because he really connects with the fans,” Dombrowski said.

Throughout his broadcasting career in Cleveland, Carr has been paired with three play-by-play announcers: Michael Reghi, McLeod and John Michael. McLeod and Carr were the voice of the telecasts for 13 seasons, and they experienced the highest of highs in the 2016 championship and the heartbreak in the years surrounding it. McLeod died unexpectedly before the beginning of the 2019-20 season, and he left behind a franchise that loved him and a fan base that cherished him.

“We had such a great relationship. We played golf together and everything,” Carr said. “He was just a great guy, and I miss him a lot.”

McLeod preached preparation, so Carr relied on a few websites to collect information about each of the opposing players and teams and to look at how that team was trending. He read the articles curated by the team’s public relations department to learn anecdotes and other information. He also wrote notes for topics and tidbits he wanted to mention in a broadcast. Then he had to step away for some time.

That level of preparation has continued with Michael as his on-air partner. Carr said Michael will bring up notes on topics that he wants to talk about on that specific broadcast, which helps in the flow of conversation. The duo has one season under its belt, but Carr felt confident that around the halfway point they had grown accustomed to each other’s deliveries.

“And there’s no better feeling when you have that kind of connection with your partner,” Carr said. “If you start out from a relaxed position every game, that is a great feeling for me to start out already understanding and knowing where he’s coming from and how he’s going to present it.”

But before he became known as “Mr. Cavalier,” a nickname McLeod gave Carr during their broadcast days together, Carr’s legacy with the Cavs began on the floor. He was the first overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft and a member of the “Miracle at Richfield” season, which saw the Cavs win their first division title and reach the Eastern Conference finals.

He ranks second among the Cavs’ all-time leaders in field goals made (4,272) and field goals attempted (9,480). He is fourth on the Cavs’ all-time scoring list (10,265) and sixth in games played (635). Carr’s No. 34 jersey was retired in 1981 and hangs in the rafters of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

“It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be involved with a franchise that has evolved and (become) what we are now compared to what we started 50 years ago. I’m very proud. And I’m really happy and honored that I was able to see (the team) through the whole thing,” Carr said. “It’s just a great feeling to be a part of an organization that has evolved with our society and become really one of the spearhead organizations in the NBA as far as innovation and what we’re doing.”

Carr also watched as the game changed over time. When he learned the game, it was focused on the inside. When he was in high school at Mackin Catholic in D.C. and later at the University of Notre Dame, if a player was 6-foot-8, he automatically played under the basket — at the foul line and below. Those players didn’t handle the ball. That’s how Carr was taught. He was about 6-2 and fit at the time as a small forward, but it wasn’t until college that he started to play guard.

Over time, he watched the sport transform more into an outside game. Players who are 6-foot-7 and above playing on the perimeter is one of the bigger changes the game has seen in recent years, and Carr has adapted his way of thinking.

When he sits in on Cavs practices, Carr watches a new generation of players shape the NBA. He sees how they play the pick-and-roll — or the intention behind a certain play — and he becomes better informed for the broadcast. It also creates space for Carr to establish relationships with the players, like the ones he has formed with Larry Nance Jr. and is building now with Collin Sexton.

“They look at me more like their father as opposed to a friend or somebody they can confide in,” Carr said. “But naturally because of the kind of person I am, eventually the friendship comes through because I’m only there to try and help him because I want to win another championship.”

Dombrowski has a small piece of paper on his desk with the number of games Carr has done on TV with the Cavaliers. That number sits around 1,500, including regular-season and playoff games.

Yet, each year Dombrowski conducts a yearly review with Carr, and each year they talk about one subject: technology. He relies on the 80-page game notes, but Dombrowski said he is growing more accustomed to Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings, along with FaceTime and social media.

Twenty-two years in, Carr has found his go-to phrases, his delivery and the second phase of his NBA career. He returned to a place he called home and continues to bleed the Wine & Gold, as Dombrowski said.

“He’s the kind of guy that when both of us are out of this, I can see us somewhere down the line, playing golf once or twice a year. Just saying hi. That’s the kind of guy he is,” Dombrowski said. “I just cherish the friendship and the business relationship I’ve had with him over the years.”

(Top photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)