Matt Devlin (born 1969) is a play-by-play TV announcer currently employed mainly by the Toronto Raptors of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, having replaced Chuck Swirsky in 2008. His current on-air

colour commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

partners are Alvin Williams and Jack Armstrong.

Broadcasting career

Devlin started with NBA TV during its first season in 1999. He then spent three years (2001-2004) as the lead play-by-play voice of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, and three years for the Charlotte Bobcats. He has also done play-by-play for the NBA on TNT and football and men's college basketball for

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...

. For many years, he has provided commentary during the NBA Playoffs in the early rounds of the Western Conference. Also working for the

NFL on FOX The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by ''Fox NFL Kickoff ...

for play by play. Devlin served as the play-by-play man for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

' coverage of Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2008, Devlin joined the Toronto Raptors as the team's play-by-play television announcer. Although employed by the Raptors organization, during the offseason he has occasionally served as a fill-in play-by-play announcer for both of the Raptors' broadcast partners,

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

and

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...

. This has included play-by-play for the '' CFL on TSN'' and for Sportsnet's coverage of the Rogers Cup (both in 2012), and for Sportsnet's Toronto Blue Jays coverage in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2022. In addition, in the fall of 2011, during the NBA lockout, Devlin hosted the pre-game and post-game shows for Toronto Maple Leafs games on Leafs TV. (The Raptors and the Leafs are both owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which in turn is primarily owned by the parent companies of TSN and Sportsnet.) Devlin is known for his catchphrase of describing 3-point shots as coming not from "downtown" but from the suburbs of Toronto, e.g. "He hits it from

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

!", "Drains it from

Pickering Pickering may refer to: Places Antarctica * Pickering Nunataks, Alexander Island Australia * Pickering, South Australia, the original name (1872–1940) of the town of Wool Bay * Pickering Brook, Western Australia, Australia Canada * Pic ...

!", "Banks it in from Burlington!" When Raptors fever swept across Canada during the team's run to the 2019 NBA championship, the shots started coming from the entire country: "From Edmonton!", "From Halifax!", "From Iqaluit!"

Personal life

A native of Syracuse, New York, Devlin graduated from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

with a communication major in 1990. He has three sons, Jack, Ian and Luke, with his wife Erin. Jack Devlin, who has special needs, served as a student manager for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team from 2018 to 2022. He gained national attention when draining a shot from half-court in his final game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. In 2019, Devlin became a Canadian citizen during the Raptors' NBA Finals run.

References

External links

Raptors.com blog

MVN.com Hoops Addict audio interview with Matt Devlin

Devlin as Play-By-Play Rogers Cup Tennis Commentator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Matt 1969 births College football announcers Tennis commentators Canadian Football League announcers Olympic Games broadcasters Living people American emigrants to Canada American television sports announcers Canadian male bloggers Canadian television sportscasters College basketball announcers in the United States Memphis Grizzlies announcers Charlotte Bobcats announcers National Football League announcers Naturalized citizens of Canada Major League Baseball broadcasters Television personalities from Syracuse, New York Toronto Raptors announcers Toronto Blue Jays announcers Toronto Maple Leafs announcers Canadian sports announcers New York Yankees announcers