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**Cinco de Mayo** · 06-02-2006, 02:36 PM

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John Paul Stevenson Turns Off the Microphone

He arrived in Memphis in July 2001, not knowing anyone in his new city. Five years later, he’s set to leave having become one if it’s most recognizable ambassadors.

As was announced during the playoffs, Grizzlies Public Address Announcer John Paul Stevenson is moving to Houston to be closer to his family, and where he’ll also start his own freelance commercial voiceover business.

Anyone who’s attended a Grizzlies game since the team moved to Memphis is familiar with him. His deep, booming voice projected from the arena’s speakers became as much a fixture of attending a Grizzlies game as a Pau Gasol dunk or a Mike Miller three-pointer.

In his five years, he’s seen the team go from winning 23 games, to making three straight playoff appearances. He’s seen 46 players suit up for the Grizzlies and four head coaches roam the sidelines during 231 preseason, regular season and playoff games in two arenas. He’s had to say the names of everyone from Joe Smith to Arvydas Macijauskas. But through everything, he remained a constant at courtside and in the ears of the fans at The Pyramid, and then FedExForum. And as much as Grizzlies fans will miss him, Stevenson will miss them even more.

“When I look back on this, if I never get to do anything like this again it’ll be the most amazing five years of my professional career,” he said. “It was very, very special. I’m so incredibly lucky to have been part of something so special.”

He considers himself so lucky that even the loquacious man whose living is made by speaking is rendered momentarily mute when asked to name some of the highlights of his tenure at the microphone.

“There’s a bunch of highlights, the first game in Memphis was fun. There’s so many memories that I’ll take away from this…Mike Miller hitting the three at the buzzer against San Antonio last year was probably one of the big highlights. That’s what it’s all about, when the crowd’s into it and he nails one at the buzzer to win, that’s what it’s all about right there.”

Getting paid to work NBA games from the best seat in the house was a dream come true for Stevenson. As time went on, he developed a rapport with the players as they came and went from the games right in front of him.

“I’m a small West Texas farm boy, and I’ll admit that when I first got the job, I was a little star struck and I was afraid to even say anything to them. But it got to the point where I finally realized they’re just regular people like the rest of us,” said Stevenson. “Shane (Battier)’s a great guy, everybody knows about Shane. Pau (Gasol) is a great guy, Mike Miller’s just great, they’re all just real down-to-earth people. Brian Cardinal’s probably one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met in my life…They all had some really nice things to say when they announced I was leaving. It’s a very, very classy group of guys…Mike Fratello, after Game Four, the first thing he did was walk over to me and shook my hand and said, ‘All the best, good luck’. It’s such a classy organization from top to bottom.”

But the friendly rapport he developed with the team was secondary to his primary functions at the games. The P.A. announcer’s main duties are twofold: keep the crowd apprised of critical information throughout the game, such as the foul situations and player substitutions, while also helping entertain fans during timeouts in conjunction with the action on the court. It’s a fast-paced, hectic atmosphere where you work without a safety net, and don’t get a second take.

“Whenever I would get home from a game, there was no way I was going straight to sleep. I had to wind down for a little while because you’re just so amped up after a game whether it’s a win or a loss,” said Stevenson. “The energy level you have to put into doing it is amazing. You’re physically and emotionally spent after a game and you have to take an hour or two to wind down.”

Read the rest of the article here.

He was a really cool guy and one of the best PA announcers in the league. Grizzlies games won't be the same.

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