Michael Carter-Williams

StaTuesday: Bucks' Johnson one of the best players among NBA broadcasters

Published Sep. 15, 2015 3:15 p.m. ET

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When the Milwaukee Bucks and FOX Sports Wisconsin on Tuesday announced Gus Johnson and Marques Johnson were joining the team as broadcasters, much of the attention was focused on the former rather than the latter.

Both are stars in their own right. Gus Johnson is a veteran television announcer famous for his enthusiastic and dramatic calls as a lead play-by-play man for major football and basketball games. Immediately after the news broke, SI.com had an interview with him, and social media was all atwitter about the polarizing shouter bringing his nationally recognized voice to a local broadcast booth.

Seemingly less interest, however, was paid to the arrival of Marques Johnson, whose NBA playing career began in Milwaukee in 1977, when the team drafted the physical and athletic 6-foot-7 forward with the third overall pick out of UCLA. He spent seven seasons with the Bucks and ranks among their all-time leaders in nearly every statistical category, including scoring average, in which his 21.0 points per game are fourth in franchise history. During his time in Milwaukee, he was a four-time All-Star and a three-time All-NBA Team selection.

Marques Johnson's playing-career resume is uncommonly accomplished for a broadcaster. Among all 30 NBA team color analysts, only two had higher scoring averages than Johnson, who played 11 seasons and finished at 20.1 points per game (after leaving the Bucks in 1983-84, he spent three years with the Los Angeles Clippers and one with the Golden State Warriors). The other two are Hall of Famers that played 15 seasons apiece.

Most NBA color men had careers that more closely resembled that of Jon McGlocklin, who's been a fixture on Bucks broadcasts for the past 30 years and will continue to work as a TV analyst for some games, though fewer than Johnson and many fewer than he has in previous years. McGlocklin averaged 11.6 points over 11 professional seasons; the mean scoring average of the 30 team broadcasters (three of whom did not play professional basketball in the U.S.) was 10.6 points per game.

Which teams' color analysts were the best players? That can be debated. But below we list the broadcasters by their scoring average, based on games played and points accumulated.

So, as you can see, when Marques Johnson critiques Michael Carter-Williams' jumper or Giannis Antetokounmpo's shot selection next year, the assessment is coming from someome who knows what he's talking about. And in the world of talking-head hot sports takes on the air, that's something to cherish -- or, in Gus Johnson's case, shout about.

Follow James Carlton on Twitter

NBA Team Broadcasters by Points Per Game

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Michael Carter-Williams

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