Kevin Harlan

Kevin Harlan (born June 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American television sports announcer. The son of retiring Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he currently broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS. Harlan is also a play-by-play announcer for the NBA on TNT, and co-hosts Kansas City radio station WHB-AM's "Crunch Time" with local broadcast veterans Dave Stewart and Frank Boal. Until 2008, he was the voice of Westwood One Radio's Final Four coverage, which is heard on hundreds of radio stations nationwide.

Harlan's broadcasting career began in 1982, when he became the TV and radio voice of the NBA's Kansas City Kings (now the Sacramento Kings). He then was a basketball announcer for his alma mater, the University of Kansas, for one year, then went on to call games for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs from 1985-93. Harlan also split time with the University of Missouri (1986-89) calling football and basketball games, and worked as the play-by-play voice of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves for nine seasons. In 1994, he joined Fox Broadcasting Company as an NFL announcer, and in 1996, joined Turner Sports to cover NBA playoff games (he would begin calling games throughout the entire season in 1997, which he continues to do to this day).

In addition, Harlan has called Green Bay Packers preseason games; basketball games during the now-defunct Goodwill Games, which were owned by Time Warner; NFL games on CBS; college sports on ESPN; and several bowl games during college football season. A Wisconsin native, Harlan attended the University of Kansas and graduated in 1982 with a broadcast journalism degree.

Notable lines

Known for his witty dialogue and vast assortment of creative banter, Harlan can be heard exclaiming: "Buckle up for..." (when any NBA player is about to slam dunk the ball in the hoop) and "Right between the eyes!" and "He just sucked the gravity right out of the building!" and "He's a flamethrower!" and "Flight (jersey number) is cleared for landing!" Harlan has also been known to exclaim "With no regard for human life!" after an especially devastating play. The most well known was a dunk by Kobe Bryant against the New York Knicks in 2003. The LeBron James dunk on Kevin Garnett in the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals was also accompanied by the same line.

In a playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, Kobe Bryant performed a reverse windmill dunk over several defenders to which Harlan responded, "Buckle up for Kobe Bryant! Kobe Bryant just sucked the gravity out of the Target Center!"

ee also

* List of NFL on CBS commentator pairings

External links

* [http://cbs.sportsline.com/cbssports/team/kharlan CBS Sports profile]