CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Eric Collins does play-by-play for the Charlotte Hornets' television broadcasts, and he's excited about it.
Collins, in fact, gets excited about a lot of things. His gee-whiz, isn't-this-fun enthusiasm is catchy, especially when the Hornets are playing well. Just ask a Charlotte fan who watches games all the time from the West Coast.
"I don't know if Eric has ever had a mediocre, just chill play call," Steph Curry said. "He's always just hyped. I absolutely love it."
In his sixth season paired with Curry's dad, Dell Curry, on Charlotte's TV broadcast, Collins said he likes to bring a sense of "joy and wonder" to every Hornets telecast. This year the two aren't traveling with the team, but instead broadcast every game, home and away, from their same seats at the Spectrum Center.
Collins has a wife and two daughters, ages 15 and 12, and lives in Charlotte. Now 51, Collins said he hasn't listened to other announcers call a live sporting event in any sport except golf since 1999.
Yes, that's right — 22 straight years of watching sports with the sound off. Read on for the reason why.
I've lightly edited my Q and A with Collins for clarity and brevity.
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— Scott Fowler: You've called several hundred Hornets games by now with your partner, Dell Curry. Remind us what year you started in Charlotte?
— Eric Collins: It was 2015. I came into Charlotte with Frank Kaminsky and Nic Batum, and I outlasted them both (laughs).
— SF: Describe your broadcasting style.
— EC: Ever since I've started holding a microphone, I have believed in filling every moment with joy and wonder. That's what I want to come across the screen. Even when you can't see me, I want people to hear a smile.
I talk to Dell about this all the time on the air. When I do any broadcast, it's generally the best part of my day. And I want people at home to enjoy the best part of my day with me. I want to be welcoming. And so for our broadcasts, I want a big party. I don't want to exclude anyone. I want the world's biggest Hornets fan, and then I want her to bring her husband too.
— SF: How did you get interested in sports?
— EC: I was brought into the world of sports by my mother (Collins was raised in Cleveland). No one knew more about the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns than she did. We would have a discussion, chapter and verse, about what happened the day before at the breakfast table.
— SF: What's your favorite LaMelo Ball moment to have called so far this season?
— EC: It wasn't a favorite moment, per se, but it was a favorite game was when he played in New Orleans (Jan. 8) in his first matchup with Lonzo (Ball, LaMelo's older brother). That was a big litmus test. He knew that there was going to be a ton of eyeballs on that game. It was a real opportunity for him to have a stinker and chalk it up to being a 19-year-old guy. But he didn't. He played great. And that's when he kind of came of age in my book. That's when I believed: 'OK, this kid has got a chance to be really good.'
— SF: As the Hornets have gained a higher national profile, largely due to LaMelo Ball, so have you. There's at least one Eric Collins fan page out there and your calls have gone viral a few times. Do you read your social media critiques, whether positive or negative?
— EC: No. The reason why I don't read the positive stuff is because I don't feel like I've earned that right, because I refuse to read the negative stuff. I'm kind of blissfully unaware.
I know that what I do is different. And it's purposely different. That's by design. But different is not necessarily loved. Sometimes people have a hard time coming around to it. So I purposely choose to be in the dark, social media-wise.
— SF: Being different by design as a broadcaster — what does that mean?
— EC: In the late 1990s, I was working in Chicago, and I was working a lot. When I wasn't doing the sidelines with the Chicago Bulls, I was an in-game reporter and a pregame host for the Chicago White Sox.
I worked with Hawk Harrelson and Tom Paciorek (the announcers in the booth). Hawk had a distinctive way of talking. And every single day I would have to listen to Hawk because he'd be in my ear and I knew I had to be ready to go in a moment's notice.
Now Hawk is great. He's a Hall of Famer. But he's Hawk Harrelson and I'm not.
So, one of those summers I got a job doing minor-league baseball. ... I was working in the northern league for the Schaumburg Flyers, an expansion independent league baseball team.
It truly gets no lower than that. I went from staying in 5-star hotels with the Chicago Bulls to staying at a roadside motel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. But that's what I wanted to do — take two steps back to take three steps forward (and become a play-by-play announcer).
So one time there was a pop-up in shallow center and I called it a 'can of corn.' And I realized that I only did that because I had heard Hawk Harrelson say it. And I said: 'I can't do this ever again. I want to be me. I want to do things the way that I see it, and I need to create my own language.'
And so from that moment on in 1999, I said I'm never going to watch sports again with the sound on. And I haven't.
— SF: Wait..... What?
— EC: (Laughs) So I guess I don't know for sure if I'm like anyone else, because I don't listen to anyone else. Well, golf (is an exception). If I was watching the Masters, I'd listen to Jim Nantz, because I know I'd never do a golf tournament.
— SF: But the Super Bowl? The World Series? The NBA Finals? No sound?
— EC: Baseball, basketball or football, I never listen. ... I was told early on that the only rules in television are when the producer says 'Go' and when the producer says: 'Wrap it up.' In between that, it's a blank canvas. And I embrace that blank canvas. I want our broadcast to be something different. I'm at an age in my life where I don't want to just punch a time clock.
— SF: Speaking of punching a time clock, who pays you — the Hornets?
— EC: No, I'm an independent contractor hired and paid by Fox Sports South.
— SF: OK, I'm going to complain to you then. I can't get Hornets games, so I can't even watch you unless I pirate the telecast. I have Dish Network, but this carriage dispute is a mess, and it means that a lot of people around here besides me aren't seeing much of the most exciting Hornets season in years. Can you do something about that?
— EC: I know nothing — less than nothing, really — about those negotiations, sorry. Yeah, I would prefer the whole world could watch and listen to us. But I know nothing.
— SF: What was your biggest break in broadcasting?
— EC: In 1996, I was working as a general assignment news reporter in Rochester, N.Y., for the CBS affiliate. I'd spent a lot of time getting there. City council meetings. Fires. Homicides. It's a tough life, you know? I just didn't want to live the rest of my life doing that.
So I decided I was going to go in search of joy. I wanted to do play-by-play, but I'd heard it was impossible to get into. I called up a mentor and he said, 'Call someone who's doing the job you want.'
This was pre-Internet, so I picked up the phone book and called the play-by-play guy for the Rochester Red Wings (a minor-league baseball team). His name was Glenn Geffner. I said, 'My name is Eric Collins. I want to do what you do, and I'd like to have a conversation with you.'
And he said: 'Do you want to have a beer tonight?'
At the end of that night, he said, 'I'm looking for a partner. If you're willing to do games for 25 bucks a day, I can hire you.'
The next morning I woke up and quit my job as a news reporter at a TV station in Rochester and started doing minor-league baseball games. Glenn Geffner is now the voice of the Miami Marlins and one of my best friends in the world.
— SF: What's Dell Curry like to work with?
— EC: An absolute prince. It just blows me away that I get a chance to work with a guy who — truly every single significant moment in the history of this franchise — he's been involved with either wearing short pants or holding a microphone.
Dell is able to recall in detail the things that happened in 1992, but he's also current because he watches the game religiously and has two sons playing in the NBA. I've worked with analysts over the years who just show up and say, 'Let's go.' Not Dell — he reads page 37 of the media notes.
I want to mention Steve Martin, too. He had this same job for 30 years, and he was great at it, and he was also the very first person to call me when I got it. He made the transition as easy as possible.
— SF: You've broadcast a lot of different stuff. What are your favorite sports to call?
— EC: Well, I'm a baseball guy at heart. I have no problem admitting that. I love the NBA, but I got into the world of sports because of just my love and passion for baseball. As kind of an offshoot that I really enjoyed doing high-level (women's) softball. I've done a ton of fast-pitch softball and the fast-pitch softball community has been great to me.
In this business, unless you're versatile it's kind of hard. I've always been able to work three seasons because I can do baseball, basketball, softball and football. I've generally always been able to find something during every month of the year where I can hold a microphone for someone.
— SF: When the Hornets are really stinking it up, do you try hard not to be negative given you are the "team" announcer?
— EC: I don't consider myself to be a homer, although obviously, I want the Hornets to win. I'm connected with the team and it makes everyone's life easier and better when they win.
But I'd like to think Dell and I broadcast every game with clear eyes and respect and honor greatness. If I see LeBron James come to town and LeBron James puts up 40 points and he's got six dunks in the first half, hey, I will kneel at the altar.
— SF: Are you surprised that the Hornets are in the playoff chase?
— EC: I do think that some people forgot about how well the Hornets played at times in the last month of the 2020 season last spring. They were left out of the bubble and I think people just said, 'Aww, same old Hornets.' But there were some things that were cool and promising for the future.
Terry Rozier is so underrated. The Hornets also made a good decision about a guy like Gordon Hayward — even though they got laughed at for it.
And the addition of LaMelo just changes everything on so many different levels. His style of play makes every other player better. The elan, the joy he plays with — it just changes the entire organization.
I love being a part of that. I love coming to the arena anyway. But the fact that I get a chance to watch this guy, and he's got a following, and because of that more people care about the Hornets — I just love the fact that it has elevated everything about what the Hornets are trying to do.
