Al McCoy served as the play-by-play "Voice of the Phoenix Suns" for 51 consecutive seasons, or every season excluding the first four years of franchise existence. He became a fixture of
Phoenix media and local
pop-culture as the central broadcaster for the Phoenix Suns on both radio and television until 2003, when Suns TV and Suns radio became separate media. McCoy continued to broadcast on the
Suns Radio Network through the
2022-23 NBA season. For 50 consecutive seasons (barring
remote broadcasts during the pandemic) his
official arena broadcast location had been stationed courtside, adjacent to the Suns players' home bench, as recent as May 2022. He stopped broadcasting road games in 2019 due to difficult vantage points at higher locations in other NBA arenas.
The NBA arrives in Phoenix (1966–1972) In the fall of 1966 McCoy completed his first NBA broadcast during a
preseason game at
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum between the
St. Louis Hawks and
Golden State Warriors. Thrilled by the idea of professional basketball in Phoenix upon announcement of the scheduled game, he phoned the Hawks GM and brokered a deal for his then-employer
KOOL-FM to broadcast the game in exchange for free
advertising spots, making sure to record his broadcast as a demo for a potential future in basketball. Initially, McCoy would handle production of both the radio and TV broadcasts by himself. He would hire a television crew in each city for road games after arriving in the destination city. He handled his own
audio engineering and would, on an occasion or two, have to broadcast games via
telephone due to technical difficulties. He helped sell advertising and would meet with any potential clients alongside Jerry Colangelo. McCoy observed "maybe 8 people in the entire front office" when he was hired, first-hand witnessing the Suns organization's gradual and eventual growth into a company that now employs hundreds. He was honored by the
Naismith Hall of Fame on September 5, 2007, when he became the 17th recipient of the
Curt Gowdy Media Award for broadcasters at a ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts. McCoy returned to television play-by-play for one night on August 22, 2014, broadcasting the
WNBA playoff opening game between the
Phoenix Mercury hosting the
Los Angeles Sparks for
NBATV. On October 26, 2016, during a Suns home game against the
Oklahoma City Thunder, he officially became the longest-tenured broadcaster in NBA History, surpassing Chick Hearn of the
Los Angeles Lakers previous broadcasting record. At halftime of the record-setting game, the arena ran a video montage before Suns managing partner Robert Sarver announced that McCoy would become the 15th member of the Suns Ring of Honor, as McCoy wiped a tear from his eye. In his induction speech, McCoy thanked the organization, the fans and emphasized that "every player that has ever put on a Suns uniform... is special to me, always will be," adding that he still very much feels the thrill of the game when the ball goes in the air, concluding, On March 2, 2022, he was again honored by the Suns with "Al McCoy Night" in celebration of his 50th Season with the franchise, during a home game against the
Portland Trail Blazers. Video tributes played in the arena, on Suns television and posted on social media featured messages from
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the
Inside the NBA crew, and Steve Nash along with former and current Suns players. Longtime Suns TV color-commentator
Eddie Johnson shared memories of working together with McCoy in his first years on the job, during the last years of the
simulcast. And for one brief moment of a segment, the simulcast was brought back to television for the first time in 19-years as Suns TV ran audio of the live radio broadcast accompanied by live video of McCoy at courtside describing the action. Not interrupting his radio broadcast and during an untelevised timeout, McCoy was given a standing ovation by screaming fans at the Footprint Center as Suns P.A. announced his name to the sold-out arena. The next month, immediately after the Suns set a new franchise record for the regular season on April 5, 2022, Suns player
Devin Booker went to the side, signed his game jersey (writing "To Al, the legend. Franchise record!") and presented it to Al McCoy at his longtime courtside broadcast position (which would end upon his removal from courtside on October 4, 2022), as he shook both of McCoy's hands and congratulated him, saying "50th season, baby! Franchise record. Love you, man. Appreciate you, for real." Five days later on April 10, 2022,
Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego issued an official
proclamation declaring the date as "Al McCoy Day" in the city of Phoenix, in honor of his 50th season and "to say thank you for guiding us through so many Suns victories and helping us celebrate with a 'Whammo' or 'SHAZAM!' when we needed it the most." On December 17, 2022, he served as the Grand Marshal of the 2022
Fiesta Bowl Parade.
Final seasons and retirement (2022–2023) McCoy was vocal in his opposition of NBA teams and
NBA arenas increasingly moving the broadcast locations for radio crews away from the
floor and placing them in locations high above courtside where portions of the
court are partially obscured. McCoy wrote in his
autobiography that he prefers broadcasting courtside not only for the complete view of the court, but also because it enables him to keep on top of personnel changes, player and
coach interactions, clarification of
referee calls, and the general flow of the game for the listening audience. ==Personal life and death==