Steve Buckhantz confirmed to 106.7 the Fan NBC Sports Washington has chosen to replace him as the Washington Wizards play-by-play announcer.
Scott Allen of The Washington Post reported late Tuesday night that NBC Sports Washington is set to name FOX Sports’ Justin Kutcher as Buckhantz’s replacement for next season.
“From my perspective, yes, I heard officially from my boss at NBC Sports Washington last night that they were in fact, to use his words, going in a different direction,” Buckhantz told 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen and Pete Medhurst Wednesday. “I like to say going in the same direction with a different person, but yeah, that seems to be the phrase when somebody is let go, that they’re going in a different direction. So yeah, that is official.”
News broke shortly after the 2018-19 season that NBC Sports Washington had decided not to renew Buckhantz’s contract.
The network is also replacing Kara Lawson at color commentary after she resigned this summer to become an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. Drew Gooden and Caron Butler will split time filling the role.
While NBC Sports Washington has maintained the decision to move on from Buckhantz was theirs, Buckhantz has a different opinion.
In fact he pointed directly at Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, saying he had the opportunity to save his job but didn’t.
“So listen, don’t kid yourself,” Buckhantz said. “Let me ask you a question. If somebody from our company had gone up to Ted and Zach and said, ‘Listen, we’re thinking about changing the hockey announcers, because I’m just not sure about them,’ you don’t think he would have looked them right in the face and said ‘that’s not happening’?
“Well, that didn’t happen here, so that’s unfortunate, and that’s the most hurtful thing. And I have not heard from Ted or Zach at all since this has happened, or since the whole process even began, and that’s also hurtful.”
Buckhantz alluded to the Orioles firing John Miller as their announcer previously and added situations on Mel Proctor and Marv Albert’s dismissal from the Knicks.
“Look, I don’t know if this is an age thing or whatever,” Steve Buckhantz said. “But certainly if it is, no one’s going to come out and say that to anyone and no one said that to me. And no one ever said anything about skill set or anything like that. Now having said that, I’m not there.
“And the powers that be, had they wanted me to be there, I would still be there. So somebody probably at this point doesn’t like what I do, and that’s probably the most hurtful thing of this whole process. Because all of my colleagues and my counterparts – whether they be Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor with Wizards Radio, Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin with Capitals hockey, who are the best announcers there are in all of hockey, and John Walton, who’s fantastic – they’re all universally loved and everybody loves them, and rightly so.”
“And the powers that be love them,” Buckhantz went on. “But somebody up there didn’t love me enough to keep me. And I think, in the 22 years that I’ve done this, that’s the most hurtful thing.”
Steve Buckhantz also spoke on chemistry issues with Lawson after she replaced Phil Chenier, who was Buckhantz’s announce partner for 20 years until 2017.
Buckhantz vowed he will always be a “Bullets fan” but isn’t sure if he will be able to watch the Wizards after being replaced.
