NBC tabs Marv Albert, Doug Collins and Craig Sager for Olympics
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NBC has tabbed Marv Albert, Doug Collins and Craig Sager as its broadcast team for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Albert makes his return to the Olympic basketball courts for the first time since the United States won gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He was also on the call for the U.S. “Dream Team” victory at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona. Albert has also covered boxing at the 1988, 1996 and 2000 Olympics.
“It’s an honor to be part of NBC’s Olympic basketball coverage,” Albert said in a press release. “This U.S. men’s team could be the best we’ve seen since the 1992 Dream Team.”
Collins was a member of the 1972 Olympic team that was part of the infamous gold medal basketball game against the Soviet Union. Collins scored the final two free throws that gave the U.S. a 50–49 lead before the controversy of the final seconds ensued. He currently serves as an NBA studio analyst for ABC and ESPN.
Sager, who is currently battling acute myeloid leukemia, will call his fifth consecutive Olympics. Last month, Sager gave an interview to HBO, during which he discussed his diagnosis. He later made it clear that the medical prognosis of three to six months to live for a diagnosis of his leukemia was for someone who is not undergoing treatment. In September, Sager recounted a visit to a doctor in which he targeted a return to the NBA sidelines and the 2016 Olympics.
“I said, ‘The NBA season starts Oct. 27, what are my chances?’ He goes, ‘Oh they’re good!’” Sager told a local Houston television news station. “I said one more, ‘What about the Olympics next summer in Rio?’ He said, ‘No brainer! I said yes! Yes!’”
• Athletes share their support for Craig Sager
Women’s basketball broadcasts will be handled by CSN-Philadelphia’s Marc Zumoff on play-by-play and 1976 Olympian Ann Meyers with analysis.
