Steve Holman doesn’t take days off.
The radio voice of the Atlanta Hawks has called more than 2,600 consecutive basketball games dating back to 1989.
But for the past month and a half, like the rest of us, he’s been at home. Concerns over the coronavirus led the NBA and all other professional sports to shut down.
In late March, Holman posted a video on Twitter. He was walking on a trail in Newnan, where he lives.
“Hey everybody,” Holman said into the camera on his phone. “Just trying to stay in shape here while there’s no basketball to broadcast.”
A few weeks earlier, Holman was at his broadcast perch, at the top of the lower section of seats at State Farm Arena, preparing to call a game against Charlotte. It was two days before playing stopped.
He had his headset on, his trusty bottle of San Pellegrino water nearby and the scorecard he keeps by hand in front of him.
“I write all the stats down myself, and it keeps me in the game, keeps my mind in it,” Holman said. “I still have the computer and the NBA provides great stats, but I like to keep my own just in case.”
Like many radio play-by-play announcers across the country, Holman’s voice has become a soundtrack for generations of fans, many of whom stop by before the game to chat or snap a photo.
It’s part of the job that Holman really loves.
“That gives me a real thrill, because when I started out, I wanted to be a so-called lifer, where you’d be the person that people grew up with and listened to,” he said.
While a playoff appearance wasn’t in the cards for this year’s Hawks, there have been years where the postseason kept Holman occupied deep into the spring.
“Probably the most famous of series was the Dominique-Larry Bird 1988 seven-game, grind-it-out series that people still talk about and it’s on ESPN Classic all the time,” said Holman.
All these years later Dominique Wilkins is still with the team. The Hall of Famer is now himself a broadcaster on Fox Sports Southeast. He considers Holman a friend, as well as a colleague.
“He’s Johnny on the spot,” Wilkins said of Holman. “He knows the game as well as anybody. He’s been around the game as long as anyone. He’s paid his dues, he’s learned the game, he articulates the game as well as anybody who calls these games. ”
Holman is now 66 years old. He grew up near Boston listening to legendary Celtics’ announcer Johnny Most. He later worked alongside Most before moving to Atlanta in the early 1980s. A few years later, his streak of consecutive games began.
“Yeah, I’ve probably been sick a few times and did games I shouldn’t have done,” Holman said of the streak. “You know, there were a couple close calls over the years, Steve Jr. passed a couple years ago.”
In January 2018, one of Holman’s sons, Steve Jr., who once worked as a ball boy with the Hawks, died after a short illness.
“He died on a Thursday night in Hospice Care and we had a game Friday,” said Holman. “And I did the game because I knew he’d want me to.”
Holman kept broadcasting. For his son, yes, but also for his own sake – a way to deal with the grief.
Being the voice of a team is something Holman’s wanted to do since he was 8 years old.
So whether he’s calling wins or losses, his enthusiasm for the game remains. That’s been especially important this year. When play stopped a few weeks back, the Hawks were near the bottom of the standings. Still, Holman remains optimistic.
“You know Trae [Young] and John Collins and Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter. These are five core guys we have are 22 and under,” said Holman. “So I mean the future is so bright and we’re so close to having it happen that I think that really keeps me going every night to know what’s ahead for us, and it’s going to be pretty exciting.”
It remains uncertain when exactly the Hawks will return to the court. But when they do, Holman figures to be well-rested and ready to get back to work.
