Boston Celtics
Scalabrine has an increasing national profile.
Brian Scalabrine (right) ordinarily works alongside Drew Carter for Celtics broadcasts on NBC Sports Boston. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
October 17, 2026 | 7:31 PM
3 minutes to read
Brian Scalabrine will be an analyst on the broadcast of the Celtics’ season opener. Just not quite where we’re used to him.
The Celtics’ 2026-27 season commences Tuesday with a weird 3 p.m. tip-off for their matchup on the road vs. the Pistons. The opener will air on NBC and stream on Peacock as part of the network’s tripleheader of broadcasts, rather than locally on NBC Sports Boston.
We’re used to seeing and hearing Scalabrine as part of NBCSB’s Celtics broadcast team, along with play-by-play voice Drew Carter and sideline reporter Abby Chin.
But Scalabrine also has an increasing national profile. This is his second season as part of NBC’s array of color analysts. For the opener in Detroit, he’ll work with play-by-play voice Terry Gannon and fellow analyst Robbie Hummel.
Scalabrine and Hummel will be deployed in a way that NBC innovated when it regained NBA broadcast rights last season. On some broadcasts, including Tuesday’s matinee, the color analysts are utilized in what the network calls its “On the Bench” role. In this case, Hummel will be situated near the Pistons bench, while Scalabrine will have Celtics duties. It’s almost a combination of the standard color analyst and sideline reporter roles.
Scalabrine said he sees the “On the Bench” role as a chance to relay to the viewers whatever the points of emphasis are that Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and his staff are focused on in the huddle.
“Let’s say [Mazzulla’s] on a guy about rebounding and then all of a sudden they start getting rebounds and running,” Scalabrine said. “I can say, ‘Hey, what’s happening is exactly what they were talking about in the huddle.’ Rebounding, getting tougher, walling up, whatever. It adds a voice from the coach, relayed through me, to the broadcast.”
Scalabrine said there are some who-talks-when protocols in place since he and Hummel aren’t seated with each other, or Gannon.
“If the Celtics score, I’ve got a half-second gap to chime in right after Terry’s call,” he said. “If I don’t take that gap, then Hummel will take that gap as the Pistons head the other way with the ball. The order, the organizational chart, basically is, you have your slot to say something after you team does something, but if you miss the slot, the other guy has free rein to chime in. It’s different, but it’s fun.”
· Carter, who is entering his third season on NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics broadcasts, will call some national NBA games for ESPN this season. NBCSB is not anticipating him missing any of its Celtics broadcasts.
Mike Breen, Dave Pasch, and Ryan Ruocco are still higher on the network’s NBA play-by-play depth chart than Carter and another familiar voice to Boston sports fans, Mike Monaco. That’s some high-quality depth.
· NBCSB has a new director of its Celtics game broadcasts.
Josh Demers is stepping into the job long filled expertly by Jim Edmonds, who retired at the end of last season after 45 years in the role. Demers’s previous jobs include directing and producing an array of Boston College sports for NESN and the ACC Network, and filling as director on select NESN Red Sox and Bruins road broadcasts.
· Here’s hoping Jeff Howe soon gets all sorts of news that he’s hoping to hear. Howe, who covered the Patriots from 2009-2021 for multiple outlets and is currently The Athletic’s NFL national insider, announced Thursday that he is stepping away from the job to receive more aggressive treatment for a serious health issue.
He underwent surgery for thyroid cancer in 2022 but did not disclose his current health problem. On X.com, he posted that he’s been privately battling it for the last year and a half.
“Hopefully, as soon as I’m ready, I’ll share more about this journey,” he wrote. “But again, that’s for another time. For now, I’ll eagerly welcome any encouraging thoughts, prayers, vibes or whatever else you can send my way.”
· Jon Morris, a Patriots Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players of the franchise’s not-so-great early existence, passed away at age 84, the team announced Thursday.
A star at Holy Cross, Morris played 11 seasons (1964-74) for the Patriots, earning the team’s first NFL Pro Bowl nod from his center position in 1970. After wrapping up his career with the Lions and Bears, Morris came back to the Patriots as its radio color analyst from 1978-87, working with play-by-play voices including Gil Santos, John Carlson, and Curt Gowdy.
Morris would email this address from time to time, and he was always kind, insightful, and self-deprecating. Once, after I’d written about the history of ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” he wrote, “[The story] brought back wonderful memories to this old timer, who certainly experienced the agony of defeat.”
Chad Finn
Chad Finn is a sports columnist for Boston.com. He has been voted Favorite Sports Writer in Boston in the annual Channel Media Market and Research Poll for the past four years. He also writes a weekly sports media column for the Globe and contributes to Globe Magazine.
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