SI

Kevin Harlan Is on an Unbelievable Heater

Between the NCAA tournament and NBA, Harlan has had an incredible week behind the mic.

Jimmy Traina

The CBS and TNT play-by-play announcer has been extra busy these days.
The CBS and TNT play-by-play announcer has been extra busy these days. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

1. If you’re a basketball fan, you have been blessed over the past week to have Kevin Harlan behind the mic for a combination of incredible NCAA tournament games and NBA games.

The CBS and TNT play-by-play guy is on quite a heater thanks to constantly working and consistently getting exciting games. Here is a rundown of Harlan’s week:

Thursday, March 27: Harlan calls Texas Tech’s 85–83 overtime win against Arkansas, which saw the second-biggest comeback in Sweet 16 history.

Saturday, March 29: Harlan calls Florida’s thrilling victory over Texas Tech in which the Gators erased a nine-point deficit with less than three minutes remaining to win, 84–79.

Monday, March 31: Harlan goes back to the NBA and calls the Lakers’ 104–98 win over the Rockets that was sealed by a tremendous LeBron James block.

Tuesday, April 1: Harlan is behind the mic for the Timberwolves’ 140–139 double overtime win against the Nuggets that featured a 61-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist performance from Nikola Jokic in the losing effort.

Harlan’s wild week will have a big finish when he calls the Warriors-Lakers game for TNT on Thursday.

2. Here’s something you’ve never seen at a sporting event before: Some poor fan at Tuesday’s Hawks game was participating in a halftime layup contest and ended up slipping and injuring his leg.

Meanwhile, the guy’s opponent in this competition decided to go through with his layup while the other guy was down on the ground, which caused the in-game arena host to hilariously scold him, saying, “Can you just, wait, can you just be kind and come over here with me?”

3. It appears all that hullabaloo about the Four Nations thing didn’t pay off even a little bit for the NHL because the league’s ratings are down 10% from last year.

4. Maryland fan and alum Scott Van Pelt has very colorfully weighed in on the controversy surrounding Kevin Willard bolting College Park for Villanova.

5. How far has CM Punk come with the WWE? After every wrestling fan thought Punk would never, ever return to the company, now he’s in a WWE ring singing “Fat Bottomed Girls” after Monday Night Raw went off the air this week.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast dropped Thursday. This week’s episode features a conversation with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch about all the latest sports media news.

Among some of the topics covered: Pat McAfee getting LeBron James in-studio for over an hour; impressive ratings for the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments; J.J. Watt becoming CBS’s No. 2 NFL analyst; Stephen A. Smith and RGIII playing the media game;  the one problem with Caitlin Clark’s national TV appearances; UConn’s communications director threatening a reporter for posting video of Dan Hurley ripping officials; how the WWE has handled John Cena’s heel turn and more.

Following Deitsch, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include the NCAA tournament, MLB Opening Day, Licata’s day at a New York Rangers game, a must-watch wrestling show and much more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: The great Marvin Gaye was born on this day, April 2, in 1939. This is a good time to remember his iconic (and my personal favorite) rendition of the national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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