Meet the new Charlotte Hornets radio voice. He’s from California and is no ‘homer’
Sam Farber hopes to change the strange recent history of Charlotte Hornets radio voices.
“Hopefully be a part of the Charlotte community and the Hornets community for decades,” said Farber, who is moving from Southern California to be the play-by-play announcer on Hornets broadcasts from flagship station, WFNZ-AM 610.
Farber knows that neither of his predecessors — Chris Kroeger and John Focke — lasted into a second season in that job. Kroeger was removed abruptly in March of 2019, just before a Hornets West Coast trip, and the team never publicly addressed why.
Focke was fired in September after using the N-word in a Tweet. Focke said repeatedly he typed the word accidentally into his phone while trying to type “Nuggets” and that he would never use that word intentionally. The Hornets described his dismissal as a violation of their social-media policy.
“I don’t know everything that happened there. I’ll put it this way: I start and end every broadcast with kind of a catchphrase for me: ‘It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be talking to you.’ ” Farber said.
“This is, to me, the best job in the world — I get to watch sports for a living and I love every moment of it. But it’s also a privilege that comes with a lot of responsibility. To be correct, to be on time and to be accountable. I take that very seriously.”
Farber, 37, is scheduled to call Saturday’s preseason game against the Toronto Raptors at Spectrum Center. He has worked most recently for ESPN and Fox Sports West. Sunday, he did a Texas Tech-Grambling college basketball game for ESPN.
He grew up in San Jose in northern California, then went to college at George Washington undergrad and Southern Cal for graduate school. He has worked in minor-league baseball, college sports and did play-by-play with the Los Angeles Lakers’ G-League affiliate. He and his wife Lauren, a California attorney, have two young children.
Asked about tone in being a team’s radio voice, Farber said you are conscious of representing a particular fan base’s perspective, without that making you a homer.
“A homer is (the announcer) who thinks every call against their team is a bad call. Or everyone on the other side is a villain,” Farber said. “You always have to be honest. If the ball is off of Malik Monk, I’m not going to say it was off someone else.”
Farber said he and his wife aspire to set down roots here.
“To work for Michael Jordan and the Hornets? Who wouldn’t?” Farber said. “It’s a dream job in a great place. “
