Seemingly every year the Golden State Warriors’ broadcast crew gets ripped. 2026 is no different as Awful Announcing released its rankings of local NBA broadcast crews, and the Warriors team of Bob Fitzgerald and Kelena Azubuike finished in last place for the third straight year. That’s not the kind of three-peat anyone wants.
Most viewers surveyed in the poll apparently gave the team an F grade which seems harsh. Most of the criticism over the years has been directed at Fitzgerald for being too much of a homer or being too condescending.
Warriors announcers getting bashed may have to do with longstanding beef
That could probably be said about most play-by-play announcers around the NBA on local broadcasts, so it’s odd that so much ire is directed at Fitzgerald. Sure, he can make himself an easy target when he talks about the benefits of drafting four-year college players or doesn’t criticize the team, but a lot of fans want a homer on the call. Who wants to watch their favorite team and have the broadcasters just bash them all game?
Maybe some of the hate directed at Fitzgerald is due to his beef with longtime Bay Area reporter Tim Kawakami. Anyone who follows Kawakami on social media, assuming he hasn’t blocked you already, knows that Kawakami doesn’t even refer to Fitzgerald by his name. He calls him “TV Announcer” or just “TVA” for short, not to be confused with the Tennessee Valley Authority for the history nerds who might think Kawakami is inexplicably talking about obscure New Deal programs.
Kawakami has pretty much always been critical of Fitzgerald’s announcing and the two have had a beef for the last 15 years or so. They just clearly don’t like each other and Kawakami has taken shots at Fitzgerald for years, potentially contributing to a negative view of Fitzgerald by the wider puplic.
There’s also controversy over the fact that Fitzgerald got the job over Greg Papa who has been the voice of the San Francisco 49ers for years and is pretty universally loved in the Bay Area.
Fitzgerald probably isn’t too different than most play-by-play announcers, but the fact that he is controversial due to the inner politics of the Bay Area media landscape probably helps explain why the Warriors crew is always thought of so poorly according to these rankings.
Don’t expect any changes anytime soon though. It seems that the Warriors are set with their announcers, so as the team runs it back with Steve Kerr at head coach, expect them to run it back with Fitzgerald (or TVA) and Azubuike next season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google