Golden State Warriors television broadcast announcers Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, March 31, 2019. [1] Azubuike is a Christian. The most notable thing Azubuike did as a Knick was sell his No. Why the Warriors should replace Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike with Jim Barnett and Baron Davis. Kelenna and Rona exchanged their vows in a traditional Christian wedding ceremony. Rivers was at the free-throw line when Fitzgerald and Azubuike, who played five seasons in the NBA with the Warriors and Mavericks, struck up the conversation about his time in LA under his father, who is now head coach of the Sixers. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Kelenna Azubuike looks like a completely different player than he did last summer. [1] While attending the University of Kentucky, Azubuike majored in business marketing. 22years (September 17, 1999)Udoka Azubuike / Age. Fifteen years ago today, Kelenna Azubuike made his Golden State Warriors debut in a win over the Charlotte Hornets. Alex Siquig (@ThomasAwful on Twitter) is a Bay Area expat based in Baltimore who still stays up way too late to watch Golden State play. Azubuike (ankle) is out Friday against the Hornets. With a year of NBA experience under his belt, Azubuike has quickly developed into a legitimate NBA shooting guard, displaying a much more well rounded skill set than he did earlier in his career. Unfortunately for him, injury is the reason as he still cannot participate (at) what would be the NBA combine or workouts for the NBA teams. Theres a better way to live. Warriors TV announcers Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike targeted the Denver . In his last season, he played with Cleveland Cavaliers for $1 Million.. After retiring from Basketball, Azubuike started working with . During Mondays game against the Washington Wizards, Azubuike even went so far as to describe Steph Curry as a big-time player. I dont know, man. On 17 November 2009, it was announced that Azubuike would miss the rest of the 200910 season after tearing his right patellar tendon in a game at the Milwaukee Bucks. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. and our Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced. The Warriors named Kelenna Azubuike as their new television color analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area, replacing Jim Barnett, a longtime staple of the game broadcasts. The Clippers' offer was matched by the Warriors on July 24, 2008, allowing Azubuike to remain a Warrior.[6]. [6] In August 2006, Azubuike was signed by the Houston Rockets as a free agent, but eventually waived by October. He shot nearly 50% from three-point range, something that Don Nelson really liked. Pairing Barnett and Davis would automatically catapult the Warriors broadcasting team to must-listen TV, leapfrogging mere respectability on their journey back from the dregs. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. Azubuikes effectiveness as a pick-and-roll finisher may be as strong as any other Jazzmans. , Its always a tough thing, when someone has been doing such a great job for so long and then change happens. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. For the 20172018 season, Kansas' coach Bill Self recruited Kansas football player James Sosinski to defend Azubuike during practice. Hes done an outstanding job the last few seasons as a member of our pre, halftime and post-game shows on NBC Sports Bay Area, and his familiarity with our team, our players and our fans dating back to the We Believe days will serve him well in this new role. The recently passed SECURE 2.0 Act is giving college savers more time to learn the benefits of compound interest. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Clumsy jokes. Jazz center Udoka Azubuike underwent successful surgery on Friday to repair multiple ligaments in his right ankle and foot, the team announced. He was also the only player to ever earn Oklahomas Super 5 recognition three times, an honor bestowed upon the states top five players, regardless of classification. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Azubuike moved to the United States as a child. This pairing does create one potential problem, though hardly an insurmountable one: instead of two hype-men, we may now be subject to a sensory overload of excellent anecdotes and play deconstructions, but no one to describe the action (which again, we can see with our eyes). The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team to come back after being down 3-1 in the NBA Finals and win Game 7 (2016). Hed still be great, or at least pretty good in that role. He had his own perspective, his own point of view, his own firsthand wisdom from his playing days that he was able to distill brilliantly to the average viewer for the length of any random broadcast. The teams future vice president of basketball operations was sent to the bench, while Nelson openly talked about how much happier he and Junior would be if he went and played for his dads Clippers. After finishing his junior season in college, Azubuike declared himself eligible for the 2005 NBA Draft, eventually going undrafted that year. Exclusive: Stunning photos show Yosemite National Park under 15 feet of Warriors treating Andrew Wiggins with understandable patience, but his James Wiseman, leadership genius? Rivers and the Nuggets (17-16) host the Warriors on Thursday. 34 player in the nation in 2002. Unlike past years, Lucia did not include any analysis and/or fan commentary with the rankings, so we don't know exactly what kind of gripes fans had against the work of Fitzgerald and Azubuike. [18] He was awarded All-Big 12 third team by the conference's coaches[19] and second team by the AP. While being a two-way player yet he called me overpaid?, Seems the Warriors announcers arent too fond of Austin Rivers pic.twitter.com/KL2yIIYfs0. Though Azubuikes style will differ a bit from that of Barnett a natural, given the generational gap one thing that wont change is honesty and objectivity. He bridges eras and generations with absolute clarity. [39] Azubuike was assigned to the Jazz's NBA G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, for the start of the 2021 G League season, making his G League debut on February 10, 2021. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Jim was actually one of the first people I talked to when I was thinking about getting into broadcasting, said Azubuike, who retired in 2012. He was waived by the Knicks on 28 February 2011. N.Y Knicks player Kelenna Azubuike attends the launch of the new Trident Vitality gum at the Gansevoort Park Avenue on December 8, 2010 in New York City. B. Diddy in the bay once again. We think Kelenna is one of the bright, young stars in the broadcasting business, Warriors president/COO Rick Welts said in a statement issued by the team. I remember him being a stud, especially in 2K. Basketball Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Sports enterprise reporter Ron Kroichick has worked at The San Francisco Chronicle since 1995, when he came from The Sacramento Bee. Barnett will transition to. They nearly replaced him after the 2013-14 season, when his contract expired. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Azubuike was the youngest of 3, with two older brothers and two older sisters. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. 4 Kansas beats Dayton 90-84 in overtime for Maui title", "Kansas snaps Baylor's Big 12-record win streak", "Men's Basketball All-Big 12 Awards Announced", "Udoka Azubuike named defensive player of the year by NABC", "NBC Sports College Basketball All-American Teams". Barnett was too humble. He retired after playing the 2011-12. On 17 November 2009, it was announced that Azubuike would miss the rest of the 2009-10 season after tearing his right patellar tendon in a game at the Milwaukee Bucks. He excelled in his first season in the D-League, collecting All D-League honours while leading his team to the championship, which they lost to the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. [17] On 28 June 2012, during the 2012 NBA Draft, Azubuike was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Barnett, 75, has on numerous occasions worked with Roye on radio, usually in postseason games on national TV. Golden State included him in the David Lee trade in 2010, but he didnt play a game for the New York Knicks. Rivers, a former Knick, fired back in an Instagram comment after the game. While he was somehow able to keep pace with the other guards, he knew it was time to retire if he wanted the retain the ability to walk in future years. It is kind of whole new thing when compared with the studio. He was later included in Golden State's sign-and-trade acquisition of David Lee from the New York Knicks in the summer of 2010, but Azubuike never played a game with the Knicks and was released Feb. 28, 2011. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. Here's what his return means for KU", "K-State, KU well represented on All-Big team", "Jayhawks sit out Udoka Azubuike due to wrist injury", "Kansas' Udoka Azubuike to Undergo Season-Ending Surgery on Right Hand", "Self: Doc says Azubuike's surgery 'couldn't have gone any better', "KU Coach Bill Self Laments Loss of Azubuike", "Udoka Azubuike to return for senior season", 7-foot center Udoka Azubuike returning to KU for senior season, "No. [21] Azubuike was one of a record-high 69 prospects invited to the NBA Draft Combine that year. [8] He was also eligible to play for the Nigeria national team. Im very happy and grateful to still be employed, Barnett told The Chronicle. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Azubuike answered, "Soccer, that's what I was thinking. Will Bay Bridge go dark forever? On March 25, 2022, Azubuike underwent right foot surgery and was ruled out for the rest of the 202122 season.[40]. [35] Azubuike averaged 13.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game as a senior. [2] In 2012, he caught the attention of recruiters with Basketball Without Borders and was offered a scholarship to play basketball in the United States. The double hype-man/yes-man experiment has failed. He actually connected me with NBC Sports Bay Area. Strange references. Azubuike (ankle) has been ruled out for Fridays game against the Clippers, Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Kelenna David Azubuike (born December 16, 1983) is an English/American former professional basketball player.