Brian Sieman Is Close to Signing on as the Clippers’ New Play-by-Play Broadcaster

Per Andrew Greif of the LA Times, the Clippers are “close to finalizing” a deal with longtime radio announcer Brian Sieman to take over Ralph Lawler’s role as the Clippers play-by-play broadcaster. Sieman has called Clippers’ games since 2007, and has occasionally been called up to replace or serve alongside Ralph on TV as well. The Clippers have clearly been grooming him for this role, and he has the blessing of not only most fans, but Ralph himself. Sieman is an excellent broadcaster, who blends excitement and charisma with research and knowledge of the game. He’s not Ralph, but he should be a great replacement for the legend.

With Sieman moving on from radio, Greif also reports that the Clippers will hire Noah Eagle to step in as the new radio broadcaster. Eagle is the son of noted NBA broadcaster Ian Eagle, and has called games for NBA TV and Summer League over the past couple years. If he’s anything like his father, he will be very good indeed.

The rest of the broadcast team, however, remains up in the air. A report came out today from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post that the Clippers made an offer to Sarah Kustok of YES network to take over the analyst role, but that she turned them down to return to covering the Nets. Kustok would have been a coup, a nationally-known broadcaster whose star is on the rise and is extremely well-regarded in the industry. The Clippers reaching out to her (and their contacting Reggie Miller a couple years ago, before they hired Bruce Bowen) is a sign that they are trying to make somewhat of a splash with their analyst signing. It will be interesting to see who they land for that spot.

What this overhaul means for the rest of the Clippers’ broadcast team over the past couple years, like Don Maclean, Corey Maggette, and Ryan Hollins, remains to be seen. It’s possible some of those guys stick around as halftime analysts and backups, but it’s equally possible that the Clippers want to change things up “behind the scenes” as well as in the spotlight of the basketball team. The Clippers continue to make moves both off the court as well as on, and their work is not over yet.