ESPN’s NHRA reporter Gerould honored for his 30-year reign with NBA’s Kings

Monday, April 13, is a day Gary Gerould will never forget.

Gerould, who works as a pit reporter for ESPN’s telecasts of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, also has held down another steady job for a long time. Thirty years, in fact.

Obviously times have changed with social media and everything now is just instant reaction. I’ve been hearing from people basically from all around the world, offering their thanks or their congratulations.
– Gary Gerould, ESPN’s NHRA pit reporter, on being honored by the Sacramento Kings for his 30 years of service as their radio play-by-play voice

The NBA’s Sacramento Kings paid tribute to Gerould on April 13, marking his completion of 30 years as the team’s radio play-by-play voice. The honor came during the Kings’ final home game of the season, a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

“It was totally unexpected,” said Gerould, who has been with the team since it moved to Sacramento from Kansas City in 1985 and has called more than 2,300 games. “I didn’t know a thing about it, and it’s really nice to know that people appreciate 30 years of hard work.”

Gerould was honored on the video screens at Sleep Train Arena and a feature compiling some of his radio calls from the past combined with testimonials from former Kings players aired on the game’s radio broadcast. The feature also was distributed via social media.

“I’ve been absolutely just blown away with the response,” he said. “Obviously times have changed with social media and everything now is just instant reaction. I’ve been hearing from people basically from all around the world, offering their thanks or their congratulations.”

The NHRA and NBA seasons overlap, and sometimes Gerould has to miss Kings games (with the full support of the team) to travel to NHRA events. But the Kings didn’t make the NBA Playoffs so Gerould will concentrate on racing until the NBA season starts again in the fall. He’ll be in the pits for ESPN2’s telecasts of the NHRA event in Houston this Saturday and Sunday.

“You know, in the 30 years, there’ve been an awful lot of losing seasons for the Sacramento Kings, so sometimes you wonder is anybody out there paying any attention,” Gerould said. “I guess I found out that a lot of people are and they appreciate what you do.”

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