Charlotte Hornets play-by-play sports announcer Eric Collins takes notes prior to conducting a pregame segment with color commentator Dell Curry on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. The Charlotte Hornets faced the Boston Celtics in NBA action at Spectrum Center. Jeff Siner jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
No one watches more Charlotte Hornets’ action than Eric Collins.
As the team’s television voice, few people have their pulse on the Hornets’ heartbeat in the fashion Collins has for the nearly past dozen years. And the FanDuel Southeast play-by-play man has noticed something that’s left an impression on him through the initial three months of the 2025-26 campaign.
“To me, it’s this core of young players and their desire to get better, to be professionals, to be on the floor to get better as the season goes on,” Collins said. “I just see so much with Sion James and Kon Knueppel and to a lesser extent Ryan Kalkbrenner who hasn’t been healthy for the last couple of weeks.
“But just those two guys, Sion and Kon and their availability, their willingness and their skill level, that’s just so refreshing to me. Because for young players to really want to get after it I think it elevates everyone else.”
Teamed together with longtime partner Dell Curry for an 11th straight season, Collins likes what he’s seeing from the Hornets. Especially the player they selected fourth overall in the NBA Draft in April.
Knueppel is seemingly eclipsing new marks daily, and garnering praise from Hall of Fame coaches like Indiana’s Rick Carlisle. He’s doing things that even leaves Collins in awe at times.
“What we’re witnessing with Kon Knueppel has never been seen before,” Collins said. “I think people get way too fixated with, ‘Well, geez, he’s got 133 pointers in 36 games.’ But his percentages are ridiculous. He has got a legitimate chance to finish the year 50, 40, 90, which has only happened on a small scale. What? Seven times in the history of the NBA. And this is a 20-year-old rookie who 650 days ago was playing against 14-year-olds in Milwaukee.
“It’s unbelievable how far he has come and I don’t know if I have enough adjectives to describe Knueppel and how he’s playing right now.”
The Charlotte Observer caught up with Collins to discuss his viral catchphrases, unique approach to sports broadcasting, synergy with Curry, expanding his broadcaster portfolio with NBA on Prime video and more:
Charlotte Hornets play-by-play sports announcer Eric Collins, left and color commentator Dell Curry, right, returned to the court for their first pregame segment following the pandemic on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. The Charlotte Hornets faced the Boston Celtics in NBA action at Spectrum Center. Jeff Siner jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Roderick Boone: What do you do most when on long road trips? How do you balance the time?
Eric Collins: Well, I’ve been doing this for 11 years now with the Hornets, and before that, I did Major League Baseball. And back in the ‘90s I traveled quite a bit with the Bulls. I’ve been to Sacramento enough. It doesn’t really do much for me being out in Salt Lake City anymore, so I try to keep kind of the same thing as I would do at home, obviously, without my family. But I try and have the same amount of prep time. I prep during the same windows. I try to make a commitment every single day to do something that a local would do and do something that a tourist would do.
I always think it’s more important for a broadcast to bring in what life is like on that particular day in Los Angeles than for me to find an extra note on page 37 of the media notes. You know, Mike Tirico told me that years ago. It’s like, ‘Eric, every time you’re doing a college game, make sure you walk campus. Look at some of the college kids, see what they’re doing. That’s way more helpful to your broadcast than some other stat that someone could hand you where you kind of come up with it.’ So, I try and do that.
RB: How do you explain your catchphrases, and where do you come up with them?
EC: First off, forever grateful to Hornets fans because they didn’t run me out of town. I had a run out in L.A. and I really enjoyed doing Major League Baseball, but I don’t think people were quite ready for kind of what I was doing. And so I was fully committed to who I wanted to be as a broadcaster and what I wanted to sound like. And I remember when I interviewed for the Hornets’ job, I said, ‘Hey, it’s not your traditional sound, the way I do games. Are you guys Ok with that? Is that something that you want? It’s going to be quirky, it’s going to be unpredictable, it’s going to be fearless.’ And they all signed off on it.
And for my first couple of years, no one ever said ‘Stop’ or ‘Too much.’ And even Hornets’ fans, they’re very welcoming. ‘We’ll try it.’ They had a Hall of Fame broadcaster in Steve Martin, who I adore. But I don’t sound like Steve Martin. And no one ever said, ‘Hey, you need to sound like Steve Martin.’ So, I love the fact that Hornets’ fans, Hornets’ management, everyone has kind of given me a wide berth and I’ve had the blessings of working with two of my best friends over the years.
Dell Curry is going to be a lifelong friend. He’s the most respected person, in my opinion, in the NBA with what he did as a player, as broadcaster, as a dad, as a husband. And the fact that he respects what I’m doing means everything to me. And then I had the joy of working with Ashley ShahAhmadi for seven years, who turned into one of my best friends. And obviously she’s spread her wings and she’s doing bigger and better things, but every single day I went into work and I wanted to be my absolute best for Hornets’ fans. Because I was working with my best friends, with Ashley and Dell, and that made a massive difference to me.
RB: Can you explain the natural synergy you have with Dell?
EC: Well, I do think it can work either way. When you have two people who are different ages, I definitely think it can work. But I think one of the things that works with Dell and I is we both have the same window of love for the NBA. We’re five years apart, but we both kind of watched a whole bunch of 1980s basketball. He played it, and I watched a lot of it. I was in the NBA back in the ‘90s with the Chicago Bulls, working on that broadcast, and he was still playing. So, a lot of my references are ‘80s and ‘90s.
Eric Collins became the TV play-by-play announcer for the Charlotte Hornets in 2015. Charlotte
I’m mentioning Purvis Short, I’m talking about Bernard King, and he gets it. And I think that really works just because we kind of come from the same window of time and we both are speaking the same language, even down to our little idioms that we have. Half the things that I say I stole from him. Like, ‘Hanging on like a cat on the screen door.’ I love that. I didn’t come up with that one. He used that one. And I said, ‘Consider it stolen.’
(Other) night, we were doing a game. I always quote Johnny Cash, ‘A Boy Named Sue.’ LaMelo (Ball) made that big shot at the end of the game. And before I’ve said it’s the last line from ‘A Boy Named Sue.’ It’s, ‘He’s got gravel in his guts and spit in his eye.’ I’ve only said it over the years, but Dell said it (that) night, which I consider to be a massive compliment. We’re sharing that way. No one really wants to take credit. .... If he’s doing well, it’s great for me. If I’m doing well, it’s great for him.
RB: Spreading your wings, how do you explain that? Is it bittersweet since you are more known for your job with the Hornets?
EC: Well, I’ve never wanted to do a Super Bowl. That’s never been my life goal. My life goal when I got into this business was to be with the team. And I actually didn’t even care if it was the NBA or Major League Baseball. That’s kind of what I wanted to do. I love the soap opera of a regular season, the ups and downs. To me, if you can make a mundane game interesting, that’s the mark of a good broadcaster. And I’ve always been excited about, you know, a June 15 game between Seattle — the Mariners — and the Texas Rangers.
I’ve been excited about a March 2 game between the Hornets and the Atlanta Hawks. I can still find something interesting there. I can still find the joy in that game. So, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.
It’s refreshing knowing that instead of just preparing for one team — because I know the Hornets and always kind of get ready for the next team. But having to start fresh with a blank slate and say, ‘OK, who are these guys? What’s going to make this game interesting to our national audience.’ So, I’m looking forward to the challenge of trying a little bit more.
RB:. As someone who takes pride in not missing games, will it be weird not being around for every Hornets’ matchup?
EC: Yeah, it actually really burns me. I take pride in that. Steve Martin never missed games. He’s always kind of been the bar, but it’s just reality nowadays. I’m going to have to miss games going forward because with the new national television contracts, the Hornets are going to be on national television a heck of a lot more than it happened in years past.
So, not only is it going to be difficult to be at every game, but it just makes more sense to try and keep my schedule full. And I’m slowly weaning myself away. I’m getting replaced by Sam Farber (on select broadcasts while away), who is excellent, and I think more Hornets fans need to hear him. So, this is going to be a great opportunity for Sam.