[Quick] Tom Dundon’s Trail Blazers are losing several high-profile names of the team’s broadcasting department. Veteran play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Calabro said his contract expired June 30, and after receiving a low contract offer Monday, he decided to step away after nine seasons in Portland.
Another wave of cost-cutting moves has hit owner Tom Dundon’s Portland Trail Blazers, as the team’s broadcasting department is losing several high-profile names.
Veteran play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Calabro said his contract expired June 30, and after receiving a low contract offer Monday, he decided to step away after nine seasons in Portland.
“It was an easy decision: not worth my time,” Calabro told The Athletic. “Which is sad, because the roster and the people there are great.”
Calabro, who has called Trail Blazers games since 2016 after a 22-year run as the Seattle SuperSonics’ play-by-play man from 1987 to 2008, said he is not retiring and will “continue working on the craft.” The Oregonian first reported Calabro’s departure.
Travis Demers, the team’s radio play-by-play announcer, was not retained by the team after his contract expired on June 30. A return in a lesser role has not been ruled out, according to a team source who spoke on condition of anonymity in describing ongoing deliberations. Demers has called Blazers games for the last seven seasons.
Demers’ radio partner, Michael Holton, was let go after 19 seasons with the team. Holton, who played for the Trail Blazers from 1986 to 1988, spent the last nine seasons as the radio analyst while also serving as a co-host for the halftime and postgame television shows.
The team also parted ways with Neil Everett, the former ESPN anchor who has been the television studio host for road games since 2021. Jamie Hudson, who co-hosted with Everett, was also let go after five seasons with the team. Tom Haberstroh, who for the past three seasons has given statistical analysis during television broadcasts, was also not brought back.
The moves, first reported by Forbes, come after Dundon laid off about 70 employees in May, many of whom were vice presidents on the franchise’s business side.