New Mavs Announcer Named

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It was the summer of 1997 when the Mavericks first contacted Chuck Cooperstein about the possibility of doing radio play-by-play.

Ted Davis, tired of calling all those listless losses in the nowhere '90s, was moving on to Milwaukee Bucks broadcasts.

Would Cooperstein, a radio sports talk fixture in Dallas, be interested?

Silly question. Of course he was.

There was a one giant problem, however. Cooperstein had just been hired by WBAP in the wake of his sudden dismissal at The Ticket. The Mavericks were property of KLIF.

"WBAP had just taken me off the scrapheap," Cooperstein said Friday. "I couldn't leave."

Instead, up-and-comer Matt Pinto from Charlotte got the Mavericks gig.

And so ended Cooperstein's dream of calling NBA play-by-play. Or so he thought. He hadn't given it any consideration again until he heard that Pinto, who had since moved on to Mavericks TV, wanted to head back to Southern California, where he has roots.

Pinto tried to get the Lakers' vacant radio job. That didn't work out. But earlier this week, the Clippers introduced Pinto as their new radio voice.

"It was a lifestyle decision on my part," said Pinto, whose children are off to college and whose wife longed for an ocean breeze.

With up-and-comer Mark Followill more than ready to slide from radio to TV, the replacement for Pinto was a no-brainer.

Turns out finding a replacement for Followill on ESPN Radio was simple, as well. The powers that be had to look no further than to Cooperstein, who shifted to ESPN when it was launched in 2001 from sister station WBAP.

Cooperstein, 46, hosted Mavericks Insider and Mavs Talk on ESPN for the last two seasons. He plans to continue hosting his SportsNight talk show as time permits.

On TV, rookie Followill will work with analyst Bob Ortegel, who is entering his 18th season on Mavericks TV. Cooperstein will be paired with Brad Davis, a seven-year radio veteran.

It all became official when the Mavericks announced the shuffle Friday.

In Cooperstein, Mavericks radio is getting a top-of-the-line play-by-play broadcaster. He's been calling college basketball for years. He's worked national broadcasts of the NCAA Tournament every year since 1991. His college football work isn't too shabby, either.

Cooperstein has called only one NBA game. He filled in for Jim Durham on a Mavericks-Spurs playoff game for ESPN's radio network back in 2001.

"I am as excited as I have ever been," Cooperstein said, "This is unbelievable. I've waited a long time for this."

Postscript: Cooperstein shot a par 72 Friday morning playing alongside his mother at the TPC at Craig Ranch in McKinney.

"This really is my week," he said. </div>

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