Did you feel like coming in, having gone to communications school where you were taught to feel a certain way about the people you work with and the people you cover, did you feel coming in a certain attachment to the franchise? In the sense that you were growing with it?

We were all in it together. I almost felt like we were basketball pioneers blazing a new trail in a new market. You think about South Florida, the college basketball program was dormant for a long time at [University of Miami]. This was not an area that was rich in basketball history and tradition.

The fan base was new and they were very supportive in the first year. The wins were sparse but the memories plentiful. Those first three years, winning 15, 18 and 24 games. You wouldn’t want to go through expansion more than once, but to go through it was special and unique.

I say this to Ron Rothstein. The foundation he built those first three years, it was based on a blue-collar work ethic and defense first. Isn’t it funny that all those years later that’s become the bedrock of the foundation that Pat Riley reinforced and brought when he arrived 21 years ago.

Talking about your craft a little bit, what are the best attributes of great play-by-play guys? What makes people excel in your role?

To be passionate. Prepared. Knowledgeable. At times entertaining. I’ve learned over the years, and I always talk to young broadcasters about this, to me there are two sets of discipline that are really important. The discipline to prepare diligently for every single broadcast. And then the more important discipline of not feeling you have to use everything that you prepared. To understand that the game will tell you what stories to tell. Not the other way around.

You can do all the preparation in the world but it’s how you react to the spontaneity of that game. That’s what’s kept it fresh and exciting for me all these years. Every game is different. You go in with a lot of information just to have in case you need it, but each night the game takes its own course and direction and its my job to follow that and tell the story of that game on that night.

That’s what I enjoy most about it.

One of the keys for whatever success I’ve had is not to put the attention on myself. Shine the light, each night, on the players, coaches, officials and the game at hand.

Not just for the HEAT. People around the league who listen to you, everyone knows you’re very fair and balanced and you give credit where credit is due to opposing players. Is that something you’ve prioritized? You’ve never come across as a cheerleader in any way, which seems to be a possible trapping of the role.

Out of respect for the game, that’s what the job deserves. This is professional basketball. There are always two sides to the story. Each night, for the HEAT opponent, you’re going to understand the situation that that team is in and the stories of some of their players and the seasons they’re having. I just think it adds texture and context to the game.

I’m always going to reflect the HEAT perspective. Emotionally and factually. But I never want to lose my objectivity and I never want to tell just one side of the story. I have great respect for all the coaches, players and officials in our game. Earning respect from coaches, players, officials and fans is something that I think every broadcaster, myself included, strives for. I think that comes naturally, just to want to tell the story completely.

What have been, not the best basketball games, but the best nights on the job that you’ve had?

In year six of the franchise, that’s when they brought Dr. Jack in. We spent eight seasons together and over 500 HEAT telecasts. That was a special time, for myself and the fanbase. It bridged the years from when Kevin Loughery was coaching the HEAT to when Micky Arison took over the team and hired Pat Riley. Jack and I were the broadcast team that built that bridge for HEAT times to walk across during a tremendously exciting transitional period for HEAT basketball. It’s when we had our first contending teams, and to have Jack calling those games with me just added so much emotion and texture to the broadcast.

I get so much positive feedback from fans that still remember those years and the unique quality that Dr. Jack brought to it. That was both a broadcasting privilege and a life privilege. He was a Hall of Fame coach but even a better person.

It was during that time that I probably went through my most trying time as a person as well. I went through losing two children at childbirth, a couple of years apart, and then went through a divorce. Jack was a tremendous person for me to be around during a very difficult time in my life. Being around Jack and having the basketball – it kept me afloat.

Now, working with Tony, this is our 12th year working together, it’s really unique for the two of us. We’re the only two broadcasters in the league where both the broadcasters are original employees of the franchise. We’re both really proud of that. We feel like we’re sort of goodwill ambassadors for the franchise. Any player that ever played a minute for the Miami HEAT, we’re never going to forget them. If we run into them we’re going to make them feel like they’re still part of the HEAT family and part of the HEAT history.

We’ve seen every game and know every player, and we’ve been a part of it for all this time. It’s a tremendous feeling on and off the air. Working with Tony has been a great blessing because you’re working with someone who has been a very close friend for 28 years.

How did that relationship evolve, where you were co-workers but you weren’t originally sitting on the sideline together, then you’re working side-by-side for 12 years? How did the relationship change?

Tony and I have been close since the very first season. He was on that staff and he was an assistant coach that I was able to talk to and develop a basketball relationship and then a friendship with. Tony was a high-school coach at Mount Vernon, I grew up in Massapequa, New York, so I was familiar with a lot of the players that came out of the Mount Vernon program. Tony and I had a lot in common even before we knew it.

Over the years the friendship has grown. Tony very much wanted to become a broadcaster after his coaching career ended and I’m glad it happened for him. It’s been very natural for the two of us to sit there. Anything people hear on the air, it’s real. We’re just two people that are passionate about the game, passionate about the team we work for and we just enjoy sitting down next to each other and calling games night after night. There’s a built-in trust and friendship and camaraderie that cannot be manufactured.

What has kept you with the HEAT? I would imagine there have been opportunities over the many, many years. What has kept you wanting to spend your time with this team and give them your time?

I did do college basketball for ESPN and college football for ESPN PLUS. I did the Big East games on TV, so I’ve been in the situation where I was a neutral, quote-unquote, network announcer. But I have spent the majority of my life and career working for a team. I think that relationship that you build up with a team that you work for and a fan-base that you work for – it’s always fit my personality more than being a network announcer. It fits my personality. I think that’s my strength.

I almost feel like my whole career is always about getting ready for the next game. That’s what it’s always about for me. I’ve been doing that for 28 years and I still do that. It’s who I am, it’s what I do, and I feel very, very fortunate that I’ve found a franchise and a community where I could plant my feet and grows roots.

I got re-married. I have three beautiful children, a family. My life is in South Florida, and the most important work I’ve ever done has been with the HEAT. It’s been really unique to start with a franchise 28 years ago and to still be there. To be able to speak with authority about the history of this franchise. I can’t place an accurate value on that, but it’s very meaningful to me. I would guess a dream come true.

When I came to Miami I never looked too far ahead. I still don’t. It’s always about that next game. But to have been the long-time voice of the Miami HEAT . . . it has been a gift and a pleasure.

I couldn’t imagine a better professional life. It’s fits who I have been and everything I’ve wanted to be as a professional broadcaster.

Considering that, and how devoted you are to this franchise, that’s probably made all the recent success that much sweeter.

As a broadcaster, you probably do your best work when the team is struggling. When your team is not winning. Because you have to come with energy every night even when you’re losing night after night. I’ve had many seasons in my career working with teams that did not have winning records.

So, to experience winning at the level that we have. To have made it to the Finals for four straight years, it’s just taken all of us to a different level. I always say that life in the NBA, even when it’s bad, it’s great. But when it’s great, it’s ridiculous.