Transcript of GOOD FOLLOW - Michael Grady talks New York Liberty, The Face of The WNBA, Finding His Style & More!

You're listening to DraftKings Network. Hey, what's up, you all? Welcome to Good Follow Show, presented by DraftKings. I'm Roz Gold on Bode, and I am coming to you from our New York City studios. We have an exclusive interview with a very special guest. Now, if you love who, then you probably already know this guy. But there's a chance if you don't, I'm going to introduce you to somebody that you are going to see and hear a lot of because he is one of the voices and the faces of the league, actually both league. I'm talking WNBA, I'm talking NBA on both the national and the local level levels. So he's going to be the voice and face for NBC, for Amazon Prime, NBA and WNBA. Locally, he is with the Minnesota Timberwolves and with me on the New York Liberty broadcast. So guys, I bring on. He's got all the jobs. He is the man with all the momentum. My guy, Michael Grady.

I appreciate you, my friend. You are missed. I'm happy we can catch up and happy we can do this. Thank you for having me on.

I'm so happy to have you on, Grady, and that you've made the time. I know NBA season just started up. You're probably so busy, right?

Yeah, this is like a little bit of a calm before the storm. I got a few days before things really pick up with the Sunday, Monday, back to back, and then another game on Wednesday. So this is like a good sweet spot. But even if it was a busy period, always make time. It's fun to catch up, talk some hoop, and get into some other things. So I'm really excited about that with you.

Absolutely. Grady and I, we call games together for the New York Liberty. He is the team's lead, play by play. People always ask me, they're like, Do you have a professional photographer? And I'm like, No, that's Grady's camera. And pregame, we do our fist bump before every broadcast for good luck. Grady, I like to call Beyoncé. I call you Beyoncé. So can you tell the people why?

No, no. We have a good relationship. We don't fight, but we do have disagreements, and this is one of the disagreements. I say that Raz Godan Mouda is Beyoncé. Again, multi-hyphenate, so many different avenues, big-time brand. I'm Julius, so I just make sure that you're protected good, make sure that you're protected, good, Make sure we get on the broadcast. Do you want to talk to her? No. You got to go through. No.

This is Kat. This is Kat. I'm literally going to have to object here because if anyone is Julius, it's me. People are literally everywhere we go, Grady, Grady, come and dab it him up. He knows everybody from the President to the players to the ushers. Actually, I do call you Beyoncé, my friend, and I'm happy to be your backup dancer. Listen, B, okay? Because look at Grady. He's doing magazine covers and shoots now. My guy is glowing up. Look, they got the articles. We got receipts, Grady. They got the articles. National Rise. He's doing cool photo shoots now. Oh, my God. Look at the lighting. My guy loves good lighting. You're hanging out with the players. You get custom jackets for NBC coverage. Listen, you can divide if you want.

These are I am honored to be a background dancer for Beyoncé here.

I'm just poking fun here, but I think the two things that you have that are so great, and I think, one, this magical voice and talent, right? So full stop. You are so talented. But I think another thing is you are a wonderful human being. You are a great person. People love being around you. You are magnetic. You are fun. You are like, and look, you hold people down. You pull up on my show. Man, You're doing everything right now. You work for four different networks right now for the NBA just started. And you're here. And so I think that's part of the glow.

That's love. I appreciate you. And it's a joy It's a joy, as you know, to be able to be in this space. We remember being young and being inspired by others and to have the privilege to have doors open up in our work, be recognized, and be in a position where you can inspire someone, even if it's just one person, but that we can inspire someone is something that I don't take for granted. We just have a lot of joy. And that's why we hit it off. I hit it off. I connect with people who appreciate these opportunities, these moments, and want to cherish these things. And that's why I do have that camera with me, because I want to remember these moments. I want to cherish these memories a year from now, 20 years from now. So a lot of joy, and I truly appreciate you saying that.

Oh, no, it's from the heart, man. And I felt that joy, too. In fact, I think that bleeds into our broadcast for the New York Liberty. Year, play by play. I'm analyst, color commentator. We're also joined by Tina Servacio, our sideline reporter. It's actually one of the great honors of my career to cover the New York Liberty, being a Newyorker, coming up through the organization, and honestly, to get a championship ring from the New York Liberty for the 2024 Championship. You've seen the three of us over there. Yeah. I mean, just hamming it up.

Your reaction on this The photo on the right is one of my favorite images of the entire season. You did the joy and the... If you were to share how much that meant to Roz, that photo right there, that moment right there encapsulates the the energy, the fun, the joy, and how much this means to you and to us to be a part of this franchise. To your question, my first play-by-play professional basketball experience was with the New York Liberty. I wish I could have gone back as far as you have and those MSG days. I can't even imagine. But my first opportunity to do play-by-play was when the Liberty played in Westchester at that little They were just figuring things out and in limbo in terms of, we're certainly not going to continue to play here, but where's the franchise going to go next? For me, again, I was just happy to be able to call a game and to have that experience. Then the size step in, and then it's on to Brooklyn, baby. The whole thing just dramatically shifted to where in a city like New York, the premier city in the world where all these things are going on.

Yankees games during NBA season. We had a stretch with the Nets with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and of course, the Knicks are Hot, and the Rangers, and so many different things going on. Fashion Week, all these things that you're involved with, these high-profile things. And the New York Liberty has carved out a space to where it is appointment viewing. It is a space that you want to be, that you have to be, that you tell your guy, We got to check the game out because you're not only enjoying the basketball on the court, which culminated with the Championship a couple of seasons ago. But you want to see Ali. You want to see that show. So to be able to have that opportunity to be able to call their games and to see the way that it's grown and blossomed or whatnot is a true joy for me.

Yeah. Yes, absolutely. Oh, my goodness. First of all, that's so beautiful and poetic the way you put it together. It's as if you work with words for a living. In your schedule, you always are like, Yo, I'm a slice of this. I'm carving out a space for women's basketball as well. You own this really special piece of real estate, historic piece of real estate in the basketball ecosystem. But you mentioned Ellie. The two of us on these broadcasts, we're calling incredible basketball, but we're also trying to stay and not crack up while Ellie the Elephant is literally carrying on.

A legal screen by John Paul Jones. And your Nesco fired up.

Let's come in. Look at Ellie the Elephant. Ellie the Elephant is having to be held off the court, you all. They are dragging her down the tunnel.

I love that you call it out in the moment because it took our camera. I don't know if the cameras on live television actually was able to get to Ellie. So I'm glad it went viral. Someone was able to get the shot and piece it together because it had to be referenced, and I'm so happy you referenced it because it was an emotional moment in this intense game. All New York Liberty games have this high energy and intensity to him. But that was a pivotal moment. We have to talk about the seriousness of the call and Sabrina being upset. And then in the bright lime vest over here is Ellie losing it. And That was certainly one of the highlights. Top five of the season.

Absolutely hilarious. As a broadcaster, you've got these quick decisions to make, right? Do I address this? Also, do I have a visual to support what I'm saying out of my mouth? And does this matter in the scope of the game? Is it trivial or is this worth bringing up? And also, you want to make sure you're respecting the energy of the game, right? Where we are and how serious the moment is. But all of those decisions are happening fast. Actually, the only thing that didn't match up was because our cameras are a little bit limited at times or whatever, we weren't able to get the camera shot of it. But there was so much carrying on happening, and it was an extended period of time. We saw it and we're cracking up, and it was like, We're going to talk our way through this. We were able to be visual with our language because people tweeted and hit me on threads after and was like, We were wondering what you all were talking about, and then somebody pieced it together from the arena. Then you've got this viral clip. That clip went viral, and it's still going viral.

It also speaks to Ellie. People are like, I knew Ellie was from Brooklyn. The best mascot, your mascot could never.

Yes. We're talking about the most authentic, true to the community and the franchise mascot in professional sports. And so I love Ellie and the concept behind Ellie and the people that brought Ellie alive and made it happen. Ellie is how old now? It's not that old. And now we've got We got some imitation as the sincerest form of flattery. We've got a channel on that, Ellie energy.

People are inspired. There are mascots that are inspired.

Yes. We certainly welcome that, but don't forget the blueprint. So it's just another added element to what makes attending the New York Liberty game so much fun.

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I want to zoom Come out real quick because obviously, you do a great job on a local level with the New York Liberty. But on the national level, just recently, press release out of Amazon Prime. They've already announced their lead basketball team, broadcast team for WNBA games, and it's you as the lead, play by play, and the legend, Candice Parker. You'll see, actually, there's all these different announcements. Grady's part of the Amazon Prime Group with the NBC Group as well. I mean, it would have been prestigious to have one of these jobs, and I'm not even trying to be funny. But the fact that there's probably hundreds, thousands of play by plays out there. The fact that both of these national networks, the new rights holders, were like, Listen, we'll make it work. We want Grady, too. You can have them, too, if we can have them. They both were like, We're going to do it. Then the Timberwolves were like, But you can't leave us. Also, you're so loyal. You didn't say, I'm out for national. You're like, I'm still going to do the Timberwolves. Then you're like, I could take a summer vacation, but no, Ball is life.

I'm going to do the New York Liberty. It's just, first of all, kudos to you because Ball is life. Also, make sure you have time for Pilates and peace, okay? But to come back to my question. To come back to it, you were announced as the lead broadcast group for Amazon Prime's WNBA coverage will be you and Candice Parker. What does it mean you have such a big footprint now in women's basketball, including with the new rights holders?

It's everything. I'm still pinching myself. It still hasn't quite sunk in. We've talked about this before, where I was like, The W really means something to me. I talked about my time with the Liberty and how that started, but I can go back further. When I was in Indianapolis and I was working at this big radio station, I was still super young, and the station had the Pacers, had the Colts. And once I got my foot in the door out of college, I was doing this small shift over the weekend. And then I got into this sports talk show that aird on the weekend. And I said, You know what? I'm going to use this sports talk show to get me credentials to some of these sports events because I really feel like I'm going to be talking to professional athletes on a regular basis. I feel this is going to work out at some point in my career. And I just want early practice on being able to interview professional athletes. And so I remember it was the start of the Pacer season, and I sent an email out to Pacers PR and asked to cover Pacer games.

And they wrote back immediately and said, no. I said, okay. And then here comes the summer, and I reach out to Indiana Fever PR. Shout out Kevin Messenger. And it's like, yeah, come on. And so I go to an Indiana Fever game watch the game, study the game, and then I go in the locker room, and I have a conversation with Tamika Ketchings. I have a conversation with Katie Douglas, Tilly Bevilacqua, Brian January. I'm talking to all these great players on this roster. A few years later, I become the PA anunciancer for the Pacers. And they say, well, and I was hired right at the start of the summer. And so they said, well, before you do Pacers, you're going to the Indiana fever and get your feet wet and that whole thing. And so I was excited about the opportunity, and now I'm sitting at the scores table and I'm announcing to make a catching's name in the team during player intros. At the time, the W was in a different place than what it is right now, but it meant everything to me to be able to have that opportunity. And I'm telling you, for anybody in your audience who did not have the privilege of seeing to make a catching's play, She was one of the best two-way players the game has ever seen.

She was a menace on the basketball court. She was just a joy to watch. And then, of course, that team eventually won a Championship, and I was able to be there and present and working that game when they won a title on their home floor. Professionally, it's held a special place in my heart. I remember I'm being front and center watching the very first WNBA game with the Liberty and the Sparks. I couldn't wait to watch that first game. And I think a lot of it was just my upbringing and being around strong among amazing women. And my mom was an ultra competitor. I played some hoops in her day. She would beat me and talk trash, which I did not like when I was young. I didn't understand it. And so to to go from watching that first game to working a little bit in the league, first as a PA dancer, then doing play by play, and then to have an opportunity to work with you, and then now to be honored with calling games on Amazon as well and working with Candice Parker. And Amazon will have the WMBA Finals in a few years.

It's a long way around the question, but it's still sinking in, but it means a great deal to me, and I don't take it for granted, and I cannot wait to get to call in games again.

That's a really beautiful journey you described. Also, coming back to your roots from Indiana, it's It's not like you just got plopped into women's basketball. This has been a long brew and journey and rise to this opportunity. So it's really dope. One of the things that I'm curious about is, how How would you describe your voice and style as a play-by-play?

I like a little bit of variety, but I do like a signature, something that people can look forward to in those clutch moments. Mine is just simply cash. That's been my take.

Cash. Give me an example of using cash.

You just nailed it. You just nailed it, but I'll throw it in the first half though. If we're in a sequence and the game is moving and a team is on a run and there's what looks like a backbreaker three that leads to a timeout and the other team's got to get themselves together, I'll throw a cash in the middle of a big run. Sabrina had some cash moments over the course of this past season, too. So when I started doing play by play for the Timberwolves, going back to 2022, I didn't have anything in mind, but I sit down every game and I have maybe 20 to 30 different ways say a may basket, 20 to 30 different ways to say this is a miss basket, different ways to describe passes, layups, blocks. It's just so I can vary my language. And so I went into my first season with the timbre wolves. I was like, I'm just going to mix it up. And then the first feedback that I started getting from, I really like it when you say cash. And so I was like, okay, I'll let that ride a little bit and save it for some bigger moments.

And it's stuck. And so it's worked for me on a regional level, and now I get to introduce it slowly but surely on a national level.

I love the fact that you're not afraid to use the cash early, too. You're not going to save it for the end of the game. You was like, If there's a cash money moment that happens in a sequence and it's the first quarter, you're getting cash because you don't think you're going to hear a bang in the first quarter of the game. I don't know if you're going to get that, right? But you're like, I'm dropping a cash. You'll drop a cash.

Yes. If it's a hot sequence and a momentum building moment, I just had the Timberwolves and the Portland Trailblazers. And Clark goes down. And Srake got his shoulder into his chest. Clark diving on the floor, Conley scoops it up. Edwards for three. Cash. There's a good moment in the first half, and it goes on social media. When people see the clip, they're not necessarily going, Oh, was this first quarter? Was this whatever? No, it's a good play. It's a good play, and you want to put a good call behind it.

I like that. Cash. Am I saying that right?

Yeah, you got it.

You have developed a very nice relationship with Anthony Edwards as the play-by-play for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Some people are trying to proclaim him as the face of the league. We're not even here to debate that. More, I want to take it back to women's basketball and say on the WNBA side, let's talk face of the league. Who's the face of the league, in your opinion, right now, and who do you think got next?

Love the question, and I love having this debate in the game. Although right now, Roz, I don't think this is up for debate. If anybody says the face of the league is not Asia Wilson, we have a problem. You've talked about this. Texted about this. She has a GOAT resume, pre-30 years old. The things that she's able to do and the things that she's accomplished already on the basketball court. And all of her Championship runs with the Las Vegas Aces have been unique. But this one that she just had was really special. With the start that they had. I love the sequence during the celebration. They're taking photos. They're obviously feeling good and buzzed. But I think it was Asia with shout out, We just lost my 53 points. They all laughed like, 500 team. Like, throwing all these different criticism and things that were thrown out and said about the team during the season when they were really struggling. People were questioning, Oh, they're falling off. And just never doubt Asia Wilson. She played out of her mind down the stretch. They went on that incredible run, won another chip, the MVPs, the Player of the Year awards.

She's a special player and should be appreciated. I'm running out of fingers.

I feel like she won every award this year. And the Aces, they kept receipts. To your point.

Yes, and I love that, and you should. To find something to have a chip on your shoulder about, and especially when you've accomplished everything that you could want to accomplish already and say, No, I'm still hungry for more. That's aspirational. So it's definitely Asia Wilson. Obviously, we want to see Kaitlyn healthy next season. I had so much fun watching Paige, and I'm in Minnesota right now where she came up and honed her skills. She's just got a different energy when you watch her play. She can put you in a blender with her handle. She's got a great mid-range game. She's a three-level scorer, and I'm excited to see if Dallas can continue to put a team around her, we can really see her shine in big moments. But I'm a fan of so many players around the league, and there's a lot of hungry players who are saying, who are ready to take the medal and say, I got next, and I love that.

Yeah. And you're going to be on the call for all of that on every level as well. So we can't wait to hear some cash from you, Grady. And you were cash on this interview. I'm going to use that all day. Cash. I love it. But, Grady, thank you so much for your time. Good luck this NBA season. We'll catch you in the summer for W. Keep crushing it. And look, Beyoncé, we're just living in your world.

No, no, no. It says, Juliet, and thank you so much for having me, Beyoncé. I'm just happy to be a part of the Beehive. Thank you. Hope we can do this again soon. Summer for W. Keep crushing it. And look, Beyoncé, we're just living in your world. No, no, no, no, no.