I learned how to fold socks and shoot jumpers by listening to Al McCoy.
While I was a kid growing up after moving to Arizona in the early 1970s, a staple of my life was tuning into the radio and listening to Al call the play-by-play for the Phoenix Suns . I rarely missed the chance to follow along and pretend I was there, using those rolled-up socks and flinging them into the laundry basket in my bedroom throughout the night.
When Al would tell us the Suns were driving “left to right across your radio dial,” I was running point guard on the play. If it was a drive to the hoop for a layup, I simulated the action in real time. When he’d tell us there was pass out to the far wing, I was there ready to bury the baseline jumper…