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Brown, 85, is the acerbic Old Man River of N.B.A. broadcasting, having analyzed 17 championship rounds for ESPN and assorted other outlets, more than any broadcaster living or dead. He rattles off data misses, shooting percentages, the number of back cuts submachine-gun style, rat-a-tat, followed by a chaser of context and critique. He is passionately dispassionate and cuts no player or coach a break.

Last year he signed another two-year contract with ESPN. Entering Game 4 of the finals on Friday, he had done 22 television games this season and 12 on radio. He is three months away from his 86th birthday.


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He got an assistant coaching job with the Bucks. One morning he and Coach Larry Costello arrived at St. Something or Other, the high school gym where they practiced. The players were not due for an hour, but the coaches heard dribbling upstairs.

Brown found Abdul-Jabbar, wheeling and shooting and sweating in an empty gym. Brown fell in love. Here was a star with a work ethic that would make his father proud.

"I once told my team that I had the privilege to coach Kareem and Oscar," Brown said, "and there's no one in this room who could kiss" the rear end of either of those guys. (Note to reader: That sentence is not a verbatim transcription.)

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