Philadelphia 76ers: Kate Scott shines in her preseason debut

I tuned into the Philadelphia 76ers‘ preseason home opener versus the Toronto Raptors a few minutes late. I’d stopped at my local farmers market, grabbed a bite to eat at the local taqueria, and was excited to sink in and see if Philly’s finest could show out better than their initial 48 minute run in Ontario.

And then, as your typical “the following game is brought to you by the Toyota Camry” spiel cut onto the screen over an advancing aerial shot of downtown overtook the screen, suddenly, I remembered that everything had changed.

The only Sixers play-by-play announcer I’d ever known was gone, and in his place was a voice I didn’t even recognize.

In hindsight, I missed a lot. I missed Alaa Abdelnaby yucking it up with his new partner alongside team mascot/All Elite Wrestling personality Franklin and a fun little tribute to Marc Zumoff to boot. Maybe if I’d have spent five fewer minutes talking about improv comedy at the Torchbearer hot sauce stand, the transition would have been smoother, but in the moment, I was genuinely surprised for a little longer than I expected.

Fortunately, we all appear to be in good hands, as Kate Scott absolutely killed her first call as the Philadelphia 76ers’ new play-by-play person.

The Philadelphia 76ers landed a pro in Kate Scott.

How do you replace an announcer who held the same role for 27 years? Do you attempt to imitate his mannerisms? Go at it in a completely different style? Or how about split the difference with a reverence for the past but a unique, forward-thinking approach all their own?

Kate Scott chose the latter option, and though the sample size is rather small, the results are anything but.

From weaving in personal anecdotes about attempting to get a senior discount at the movies in college, to notes on how the rules in the Olympics – arguably her highest-profile pre-Philadelphia 76ers gig – differ from that of the NBA, and even a slew of fun facts about Sixers players new and old, Scott delivered a fun, compelling two-plus hours of television in front of a massive audience with very little experience with her work.

Scott also interplayed very well with Alaa Abdelnaby during their first live call together, playing off of each other’s analysis while providing some fun back and forth banter and the occasional laugh-out-loud line.

Heck, Scott even broke out a few Zumoff-isms, including the prospects of turning garbage into gold, which you can watch below.

https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1446274726146584581?t=SW4FNPCwHvb9PiWHEVGmoA&s=19

Gosh, so good.

Now granted, some may have a few minor quibbles with Scott’s first game of action. She kept calling the Wells Fargo Center “The Center” and clearly was still getting to know her new team, but after watching the Raptors’ home broadcasting crew suggest that Joel Embiid should share the court with Andre Drummond, it’s clear things could be a whole lot worse.

In the grand scheme of things, this was about as smooth a debut as anyone could have asked for.

In life, change is inevitable. Players come and go, coaches get replaced, and even the longtime voices of a franchise will eventually leave for the greener pastures of an associate director of communications at Temple University. While one can shake their hand at the sky and curse the passage of time, I’ll happily tune in to watch Kate Scott call Philadelphia 76ers games moving forward, as she did a darn good job in her preseason debut.