Career in Portland
In 1998, Wheeler came to Portland, Oregon to take a job as radio play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. Wheeler was placed in the difficult position of replacing broadcaster Bill Schonely, the team's radio play-by-play announcer since its inaugural season in 1970–71—a situation which he later likened to entering a "hornets' nest". Wheeler was able to put distance between himself and Schonely by adhering to the promise made to his new employers to call games "like a fan would call them". The resulting mixture of shrill "homerism" and forthright honesty soon found its niche with fans.
Wheeler is best known for his frenetic style, loud and passionate delivery, and trademark calls such as "BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA!" following energetic Trail Blazer dunks and hard to sink shots. During his radio broadcasts he's also known to call out energy driven lines such as: "Yes sir!", "Ring it up!" and "Ooh, that was nasty!". Whenever player Nicholas Batum makes a dunk, however, he replaces his "BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA!" call with "BATUM-SHAKA-LAKA!". After the final play of each Trail Blazer win, Wheeler concludes by saying, "And once again we can say: It's a great day to be a Blazer!"
Wheeler's radio partner in the role of analyst is former Trail Blazer player Antonio Harvey.
Wheeler hosted a daily radio talk show on KXTG-FM 95.5 The Game called Wheels at Work(originally "Wheels After Work"). In September 2010, Wheeler announced that he would step down from the Wheels at Work radio show to spend more time working on the Blazers broadcast side of his life.
In addition, he is a "Sports Broadcasting" course instructor for the online sports career training school Sports Management Worldwide in Portland.
Read more about this topic: Brian Wheeler, Biography
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