When NBC’s Mike Tirico was prepping to call his first San Antonio Spurs game this season, his broadcast partner Reggie Miller had a message.
As Tirico revealed this week in an appearance on The Ryen Russillo Show, Miller told him, “You’re gonna see things you’ve never seen.” And while Tirico, who is in his first season back calling NBA games since joining NBC, had watched Victor Wembanyama on television, Miller’s warning proved apt.
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The dynamic flipped quickly. Calling several Spurs games throughout the Western Conference playoffs, Tirico has tried hard not to make the broadcast into a lovefest for the French phenom. However, Wembanyama has made it hard.
“Until you are on the floor with him or in that first row, and you get a sense of the space that he physically covers and takes up, the thing that I am getting almost mesmerized in are the eyes of the offensive players as Wemby is lurking,” Tirico said.
Wembanyama’s presence on defense and the way he helped quiet reigning back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has to be seen to be believed, Tirico said.
“In a league where you do, on a hair-trigger of natural reaction based on the extraordinary athleticism of the other nine people on the floor with you, he makes people think and slow down and change what they do, first nature, every other time in their life,” Tirico explained. “And that’s the impact that we cannot quantify in a number or in a stat or put on a screen or even see from afar.”
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Even during Wembanyama’s sensational 41-point, 24-rebound masterpiece in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday evening, Tirico was still being careful.
“Every game, I’ve walked away thinking, ‘Oh my god, oh my god, I don’t want to overhype this, but this is ridiculous.’ And even in the game on Sunday night, I was really conscious of, ‘Don’t go too far, don’t act like this is ridiculous,’” he said.
Some time around Wembanyama’s deep logo 3-pointer near the end of regulation is likely when Tirico gave up. Viewers could only hear Tirico offer a delighted chuckle as the ball bounced through the net to tie the game. A short while later, as Wembanyama closed out the game in double overtime with a backward alley-oop dunk, Tirico delivered what is likely the signature call of the Spurs star’s young career.
“He’s unbelievable!”
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Speaking with Russillo ahead of Game 2, Tirico admitted he basically lost control.
“Double overtime, I just kinda got caught up in it,” he said. “Then you get out, and you realize everyone else is feeling the same thing, and you’re OK.”
NBC made a clear decision to link Tirico and Miller to as many of Wembanyama’s games as possible this postseason, and he has delivered. While it is probably smart for Tirico to be mindful of not coming off too biased, Wembanyama’s play this year has made it close to impossible to overhype him, even if Tirico tried.
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