O'Donnell: Adam Amin is Bulls next TV play-by-play voice
"Local boy makes good" will be the theme of the next segment of Bulls broadcast history.
President Michael Reinsdorf confirmed Monday that Adam Amin - a native of West suburban Addison - will be the next TV voice of the team beginning if and when the 2020-21 season begins.
"Adam brings strong credentials to this role, as well as energy, charisma and innate storytelling ability that help him immediately connect with his audience," Reinsdorf said.
"We're thrilled that he's joining the Bulls family."
Amin, 33, will be the NBCSCH successor to Neil Funk, who previously announced that the 2019-20 campaign would be his 28th and last.
"The experience of filling in for Mr. Funk gave me a glimpse of what it's like to work with such an exceptional group of professionals," Amin said.
"To have the privilege of joining the Chicago Bulls broadcast team is way beyond a dream coming true, The little kid sitting on the floor of his parents basement watching Bulls games could never have imagined this."
He is the fourth and only American-born son of the late Mohammed and Zubeda Amin.
His father - a bank vice president in Karachi - emigrated to the United States in 1978 and worked in a factory. He sent for his wife and first three sons in 1985 and Adam was born one year later.
Amin's broadcast rise has been steady and prodigious.
A graduate of Addison Trail High School and Valparaiso University, he worked through a sequence of regional gigs before signing on full-time with ESPN at age 24 in 2011.
A critical accelerator in his career and patron has been longtime national voice Ian Eagle, who met Amin at a ballpark in New Jersey in 2010.
At ESPN, Amin called a variety of games, ranging from MLB, the NFL, major college sports and even The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
His first national NBA telecast happened in December 2016 when he worked a Bulls-Timberwolves game - Tom Thibodeau's first return to the United Center - alongside Doris Burke.
He was reportedly first runner-up to Jason Benetti when the White Sox began their run-up to the retirement of Ken "Hawk" Harrelson.
Amin made national broadcast news last month when he ended his nine-year association with ESPN to move to Fox Sports.
For the past two seasons, he has been part of the Bulls' rotating replacement corps as Funk, 72, eliminated most road games as part of his wind down toward retirement.
When the Bulls next full season begins, Amin is expected to work next to incumbent Stacey King. Chuck Swirsky and Bill Wennington will likely remain the team's radio duo.
With Funk's partial step back, the Bulls had been using a coterie of five fill-ins this season including: Amin, Benetti, J.B. Long, Lisa Byington and Mark Schanowski.
So the local boy will have his shot at continuing a storied local TV history that has included such Hall of Fame play-by-play men as Jack Brickhouse and the simulcast Jim Durham.
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.