The inclination when writing about father-son NBA announcers Ian and Noah Eagle is to focus on the humor. That instinct isn’t misguided. Ian and Noah Eagle are funny – on TV calling games and in person.
Showing that they can pull pop-culture references from eras outside their wheelhouse, Noah, 29, used a “Fletch†reference during a recent NBA playoff game on NBC/Peacock. Not to be outdone, Ian, 57, rattled off a “Stranger Things†reference during an NFL game.
@nfl this was good 😂 #nfl #nflonnetflix #strangerthings
♬ original sound – NFL
Given that Ian Eagle’s dad told jokes on stage in Miami, Las Vegas and at resorts in the Catskill Mountains, it’s easy to draw a line straight to the laugh track.
But if calling games were just about eliciting a chuckle, Ian, who does NBA games for Prime Video, and Noah, who works NBA games for NBC, would be plying their trade at comedy clubs.
Laughs can only take you so far in their profession. There’s a serious side to the craft and fans want an informative call from the play-by-play person.
Which means being prepared. Which means taking the work seriously.
Grant Hill is in a unique position. During the NCAA men’s basketball season, he is an analyst with Bill Raftery while Ian Eagle handles play-by-play. During the NBA games, Hill fills the same role alongside Noah on NBC/Peacock.
“I’m more familiar with Ian’s prep because I’ve worked with him longer, and I’ve learned from him,†Hill said. “I know he’s relentless with that preparation. I don’t even know how he does it, how either one of them does it, because they do a lot. The depth, the information, the research – that is crucial to their success.
“You can certainly talk about the wit, the humor, the understanding of pop culture and their ability to weave that into the broadcast. But the technical part of the craft, they’re just very disciplined in terms of calling the game and being prepared for anything and everything.â€
Ian explained his philosophy.
“There’ s an instinct that comes into the equation of when you can work in some levity, if the moment calls for it,†he said. “Then when the priority is sticking to the fundamentals, tell the story, be the conduit for the viewer, and make sure that you’re covering what needs to be covered in the moment, building the drama and being accurate.â€
Hitting all the right notes
Noah adopts the reasonable philosophy of taking the work seriously without taking yourself too seriously.
“At its core, sports are meant to be fun, and if you’re not having fun while doing this job, then that’s probably going to be problematic for your viewing audience,†Noah said. “They need to feel that you’re enjoying yourself because they’re supposed to be enjoying themselves.
“On the flip side of that, there’s also a stress that comes with being a fan because for the majority of my life, that’s what I’ve been — a hardcore sports fan. There have been euphoric moments and there’s been devastating moments. You want to make sure that you understand that.â€
Noah pointed to the Oklahoma City Thunder-Denver Nuggets game he called earlier this season that involved a Nikola Jokić-Jamal Murray four-point play to tie the score at 126 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left to give the Thunder a 129-126 victory.
“Understanding that in that moment, you’ve got to get serious,†Noah said. “You’ve got to make sure that you’re hitting all the notes as the notes become available to you.â€
The Eagles are wrapping up their first season calling NBA games for their respective outlets. Ian Eagle has been calling the NBA for three decades, starting out as the voice of the New Jersey Nets in 1994 at 25 years old. He has developed into a fan favorite and is at the top of his profession.
Ian was raised in New York, was a Knicks fan and appreciated Marv Albert. He also enjoyed other greats on the mic: Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Dick Enberg, Brent Musburger and Verne Lundquist.
“All of those names had an impact as I was trying to sort out what my style would be,†Ian said.
He noticed his call “sounded eerily like Marv Albert because that was the guide. I just thought that’s what you were supposed to sound like. … Then somewhere along the line, it hits you, ‘Oh wait, I don’t want to sound like everybody else. I want to sound like me.’
“Eventually you find your own voice, you find your own style. A lot of it develops naturally as well when you start leaning into certain phrases or figuring out how to best use your voice and what seems to stick with viewers and listeners. And then for me, it really was about building confidence in your own style.â€
College, family ties in broadcasting
Ian, a Syracuse graduate, found his voice and his style. As that was happening, a young Noah often found himself in his dad’s office. While not intentional at first, Noah absorbed what his dad did for a living. As Ian prepared for work, Noah watched him and read NBA team media guides.
“I’m always learning from him. Let’s start there,†Noah said. “This has been my entire life. When I watch him, it is with a very keen ear and making sure that I’m taking in as much as I can from him.
“He’s been at the top of the profession, and he’s been elite doing this job. And that’s where I’m trying to get to. I’ve always said, if I could get into his general vicinity of his performance on a consistent basis, I’m going to feel like I’m a high level of success.â€
Growing up in that environment — going with his dad to work in NBA arenas — Noah decided at 13 that he wanted to do what his dad does. Ian recalled when Noah began asking deeper-level broadcasting questions. On a car ride home after a Nets game, Noah asked Ian, “How do you decide when to look at your analyst and when to look at the camera?â€
Ian said, “Prior to that, he had never really shown any interest in that side of it. He would ask questions about the game, about broadcasting at times, but that was very specific in its nature that made me think, ‘Oh, he’s starting to look at this in a different way.’ â€
Ian never dissuaded him from entering a competitive marketplace.
“I wanted to be as positive as possible, and I wanted to empower him in what his dreams were,†Ian said.
Noah, 29, also studied broadcasting at Syracuse and called games for various Orange sports. After graduation, he began doing games on the radio for the LA Clippers. Shortly after that, his career began to ascend in basketball, football and Olympic sports.
Noah brings an old-school sensibility to his approach. He keeps track of his schedule in a physical daily planner and takes detailed notes in a notebook, not on an electronic device. That can be a problem when, say, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid crashes into the courtside table and spills tea over Noah’s notes while trying to retrieve a loose ball.
Noah alternates between reading fiction and non-fiction books and recently started turning the pages in former NBC executive Dick Ebersol’s autobiography.
“My dad wanted to make sure I just wasn’t a sports savant,†Noah said. “It was, ‘Hey, what else can you find that interests you in life to make sure that you can connect with people?’ Because connecting with people, really, at the core is what we do in our job.â€
Noah will solicit his dad’s advice, and Ian is judicious in delivering it. Ian watches games that Noah calls, and vice versa.
“First and foremost, I’m a father,†Ian said. “Second, I’m a colleague. And third, I’m a basketball fan. I have a lot happening in my head. From a father’s standpoint, extremely proud. When your kid is doing a high-profile event, your first thought is as a dad, you want him to do well.
“There’s the broadcast colleague side. I’m watching the game with that point of view and a critical eye and ear of what’s being said, how it’s said, how the production is presented. That’s where the lines can get blurred. I have been very conscious of how to give feedback. I’m not someone who sends 13 points in a text.
“If there’s something that I know he would like me to point out, I will. But I also recognize that he’s developing his own style and his own constitution of how to do this, and I have to allow that process to happen as well.â€
A sense of mutual admiration
Noah says he is still learning from his dad.
“I want to hear how he’s engaging his analyst,†he said. “I want to hear how he’s bringing humor into a broadcast, how he’s making sure that there’s levity throughout the entire 48 minutes or maybe 53 if it goes to overtime. I want to hear what coaches’ stories he got in the meetings that he can then share during the broadcast.â€
If you walked into a room with one of the Eagles providing play-by-play and you didn’t know which media company was showing the game, you might have difficulty discerning which Eagle was on the call. Listen more closely, and the sound of age creeps into Ian’s voice slightly more. Noah’s voice is more youthful.
“Certainly when I listen to him, I hear similarities,†Ian said. “I hear a similar voice tone, I hear similar inflection. And then I hear his own spin on things — a younger version and someone who’s come up with a glossary of terms that he’s comfortable with as a play-by-play announcer.â€
The mutual admiration of each other runs deep for the Eagles.
“I’m incredibly proud of Noah as a broadcaster, but equally as proud of him as a person and how he represents himself,†Ian said. “And I do know that it matters to him. And I think carrying the Eagle name in this particular case, he recognizes that it’s not just about him, but it’s about our family and he represents our family admirably.â€
Said Noah: “There is a sense of pride and also a sense of, ‘Man, this is always going to be incredible for me.’ â€
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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