The Mike Gorman farewell season is underway as the longtime Boston Celtics voice was on the call for his final home opener on Friday night.
As Boston took on the Miami Heat, Gorman and Brian Scalabrine were joined on NBC Sports Boston's broadcast by Celtics great Paul Pierce, who Gorman doesn't hesitate to name as his favorite player.
"That's an honor, man," Pierce said of Gorman's high praise. "Being able to play here and have the voice of the Celtics announce your games, it's truly an honor."
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Gorman was the voice for almost all of Pierce's 1,102 games played with Boston. Pierce even recalled a game Gorman was the play-by-play broadcaster for during his collegiate career at Kansas.
The two formed a close bond during Pierce's 15 years with the C's.
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"He was almost sometimes like a second coach to me," Pierce said. "He'd be like, 'Paul, don't forget about the midrange.' I remember him telling me that a few times, him and Tommy (Heinsohn). Because sometimes I'd go away from it to where I'm forcing things.
"He was like another coach on the side because he knew my game better than anybody. He's watched me more than anybody. I've been through four or five different coaches. So it was great."
Gorman and Heinsohn formed one of the longest-tenured broadcast tandems in professional sports when they started calling Celtics games together in 1981. Their legendary partnership lasted until Heinsohn's death in Nov. 2020.
Both Gorman and Pierce were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
The Celtics treated Gorman to a victory in his final home opener, 119-111.