Podcast: Marc Zumoff on his 27 years as Sixers’ play-by-play announcer

Zoo joined me to talk about life in retirement, this year’s Sixers squad and we reflect back on the history of the team since he was hired in 1994.

By Jas Kang@jaskang21 Dec 16, 2021, 12:41pm EST

/ new

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

The Philadelphia 76ers are playing their first season without a familiar face who was the voice of the team for 27 years.

Legendary play-by-play Marc Zumoff retired before this season. He was replaced by Kate Scott on NBC Sports Philly’s local broadcasts.

Zoo has been enjoying life in retirement but still keeps an eye on how this year’s Sixers squad performs.

In the latest episode of The 30, Marc discusses what it has been like being away from the team for the first time in 37 years. We also talked about many different topics that covered his time as the voice of the Sixers, including the most memorable game he called during his tenure.

“You had mentioned the 98-99 season really briefly, but the Sixers were in no man’s land for eight years. They had failed to make the playoffs after last making them in ‘91. They traded Charles Barkley and that became a dark age for the team. But in 98-99, which ironically was the lockout year, I think they only played 50 games that season, but the Sixers were, I want to say a No. 6 seed, Orlando was a No. 3 seed, and they managed to split the first two games of that series.

They came back, ready to play the first home playoff game in eight years. It was the first playoff game, I believe, at Wells Fargo Center. And I just remember because it was my first home playoff game as the voice of the team then that it was just a wild atmosphere. And I will swear to this day, and I don’t know if there’s anybody around who can deny it. But I remember when the teams came out to warm up about 20 minutes before the crowd got on its feet, and in my mind, it was like they never sat down. They were just jacked throughout the game.

Iverson had what I believe is still an NBA record 10 steals. I mean, he was just all over the place. It was like he was five guys out there on the floor. I remember Matt Geiger. There’s an incident right in front of the Orlando bench where it looked as though for a second the late Chuck Daly, who was the Magic coach that was going to get into a fight. I mean, it was just a crazy scene. The Sixers ended up winning the game; they go up 2-1 in the series. It was a best-of-five then, so they won the next game, and of course, they went on to play and lose to Indiana but that to me has and will probably be since I’m not coming back; my most memorable game is the voice of the team.”

Some of the other topics Marc and I discussed are: