It’s not uncommon to see a retired athlete launch their second career as a sports broadcaster. What’s rare is to see that athlete become a play-by-play voice instead of an analyst, even more unprecedented is doing it for a sport other than the one they played.
Earlier this week the Portland Trail Blazers announced Jordan Kent as their TV play-by-play voice on NBC Sports Northwest for the rapidly approaching 2020-21 NBA season. It will mark the fifth season Kent has spent with the Trail Blazers, previously hosting their pregame, halftime and postgame shows. Despite his five years with the Blazers, northwest sports fans might also remember Kent from his time as a wide receiver with the Seahawks and in the Pac-10 with the Ducks. In addition to football, Kent also lettered in basketball for the University of Oregon.
Kent stepped in as the Blazers play-by-play voice during the NBA restart, taking over for Kevin Calabro, who announced he was stepping down in July. Calabro had a more than two-decade long tenure as the voice of the Supersonics, before joining the Blazers in 2016. Now Kent will get the opportunity to be the Blazers TV voice on a more permanent basis.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to step into the Television Play-by-Play role,” Kent said in the press release. “I have some pretty big shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of the great Kevin Calabro, but I’m up for the challenge and feel great support from the entire broadcast team and all of Rip City.”
Retired athletes working as play-by-play announcers or covering different sports isn’t completely without precedent. For sports fans my age, Ahmad Rashad is synonymous with basketball thanks to his long tenure hosting NBA Inside Stuff despite having a very successful career as an NFL running back. Pat Summerall was one of the best play-by-play voices in the history of football after he retired as a player. Steve Nash has covered soccer and former NBA center Brad Daugherty has long been a NASCAR analyst. But Kent is doing both, he’s a retired athlete turned play-by-play voice, in a different sport than the one he played professionally.