New Heat media center brings back Dr. Jack memories for Eric Reid: ‘Makes me smile from the inside’

Not many people within the Miami Heat organization knew the late Dr. Jack Ramsay better than team play-by-play announcer Eric Reid.

Reid spent eight seasons broadcasting Heat games alongside Ramsay from 1992 to 2000 as the organization made the transition into the Pat Riley era and first emerged as an Eastern Conference contender.

Reid, who has been a Heat broadcaster since the inaugural season, now broadcasts home games from the Dr. Jack Ramsay Memorial Media Center at Kaseya Center. The new media area was unveiled during Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets to honor the Hall of Fame coach and former team television analyst.

“Learning that it was going to be named after the great Dr. Jack just warmed my heart,” Reid said to the Miami Herald. “I think everybody who has heard this news had the same reaction because that’s the reaction that a relationship with a Jack Ramsay could only leave you with. He left such an indelible print on all of us with the Heat, including our fan base.”

Located at the top of the lower bowl at Section 118 and 119 across from the Heat’s bench, the media center features life-size photos of Ramsay at the entrances where media members and fans first enter the area. There are also custom-designed panels with his broadcast catchphrases.

In addition, Ramsay’s full name is on display on the wall and each broadcaster has a plaid back chair as a tribute to Ramsay’s passion for fashion.

“Just seeing Dr. Jack’s signature, some of his very popular catchphrases that he used as a Heat broadcaster,” Reid said of his initial impressions of the space dedicated to Ramsay. “There are several large pictures of Jack, including one of Jack and I. So it’s already been emotional, but in a positive way. Because anything that brings back Jack Ramsay’s memory into my heart is a beautiful thing.”

Ramsay’s time with the Heat was spent as a television analyst, but he’s best known in the basketball world for his Hall of Fame coaching career. He coached Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers to the the 1977 NBA championship.

Ramsay’s ties to the Heat began developing back then, when current Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra attended youth camps led by Ramsay in Portland. Spoelstra, who was raised in Portland, viewed Ramsay as a mentor and influential figure, even running a play against the San Antonio Spurs called “Ramsay” in the Heat’s Game 7 championship-clinching victory of the 2013 NBA Finals.

One of the photos on the wall of the new media center at Kaseya Center is of Spoelstra as a child with Ramsay.

“There were so many levels of his influence and the relationships that he had with people with the Heat,” Reid said. “One of the special relationships that I got to witness and observe was Jack Ramsay and Pat Riley. Two Hall of Fame coaches, two extraordinary human beings. The respect that they had for one another was really a beautiful thing to watch. I loved that.”

During his time as a Heat broadcaster, Ramsay became known for his animated broadcast calls like “Len-aard” for guard Voshon Lenard, “this away, that away, Hardaway” for guard Tim Hardaway, “Thun-dah” for forward Dan Majerle, and “stuffa” and “slamma jamma” for dunks.

“He was emotional, he was colorful, he was fun,” Reid said when asked about Ramsay’s memorable Heat calls. “The Hardaway and Zo years – ‘the sttuffa’ and the ‘slamma jamma’ and ‘Thunder Dan,’ and ‘this away, that away, Hardaway.’

“But I think most of us remember him for his call of Voshon Lenard’s three-point shot. Voshon was a favorite of mine when he was playing for the Heat. … When he would make threes and Jack would scream out, ‘Len-aard, Len-aard, Len-aard!’ It was just 100 percent fun and so enjoyable. I think that one stands out to me more than any of the others. It was Jack Ramsay totally plugged in.”

Ramsay was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. He died in 2014 at 89 years old.

“Being in a partnership with a Jack Ramsay is a once in a lifetime experience,” Reid said. “He was a truly unique man. I learned so much basketball sitting by his side on and off the air, and learned even more about life. The way he approached it, the vibrancy in which he lived his life.

“I think Jack’s magic was the way he combined his vast knowledge and the warmth that he had as a human being. The way he did interviews, the way he did games, the way he handled his life on a day-to-day basis. He’s as as smart a man as you want to meet, but just such a nice man.”

As part of Wednesday’s unveiling of the new space for broadcasters, the team hosted four of Ramsay’s children. His legacy lives on inside the Heat’s home arena.

“Jack Ramsay will always be in our heart and our spirit and in our mind,” Reid said. “You can’t have an eight-year relationship with that kind of person and not have it stay with you. One of the most important professional and personal relationships of my life. Of course, it’s going to stay with me with or without this Dr. Jack Ramsay Memorial Media Center. But it’s wonderful to go to work there every night. Just to see his smiling face makes me smile from the inside.”