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Bill Macdonald has been the LA Lakers play-by-play announcer on Spectrum SportsNet since the 2011-12 NBA season. He has filled in for Lakers games over the years, including the night when Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in 2006.
In an exclusive interview with Sporskeeda's Mark Medina, Macdonald recalled the Thanksgiving story in 2013 involving the late great Kobe Bryant. The Lakers were on the road that season and were set to face the Detroit Pistons. Bryant went out of his way to treat everyone by holding a feast.
"We also had Thanksgiving one year in Detroit (in 2013)," Macdonald said. "He bought dinner for everybody. That was him putting that tab up. Adrian Garcia and Kobe were throwing the football around. He was at the ping-pong table with (Mike) Trudell. Kobe didn’t want to lose.
"Everybody who is in television or radio or who is with the team as a coach or a player, they are your family on the road. You as a former beat writer, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’re gone at odd times. Fortunately enough, I had so much time to be able to spend with my three boys and their extended families."
For those who didn't know, Adrian Garcia used to be the LA Lakers' Spanish commentator on Time Warner Cable Deportes. Mike Trudell is a sideline reporter for Spectrum Sportsnet and also serves as a beat writer for the Lakers website.
Apart from the memory of the 2013 Thanksgiving, Bill Macdonald also opened up about the difficulty of being on the road during special occasions. It was tough to be away from family, but Kobe Bryant did his best to make the entire trip feel like a family event.
"Being away on Thanksgiving when you have a family is tough," Macdonald said.
"But you're with your road and team family. So for someone like Kobe to make you feel a part of that get-together is cool. They're the show. We're the sideshow and just helping out."
Who is Bill Macdonald?
Bill Macdonald has been the LA Lakers' television play-by-play announcer since the 2011-12 NBA season. Macdonald has been calling Lakers games with Stu Lantz for 14 years. He was born in New York but moved to California at a young age.
Macdonald has a communications degree from USC and began his career in 1985 working at Prime Ticket. He started covering a bunch of LA sports teams like the Lakers, Angels and Ducks. He lives in Newport Coast and has three sons, twins Kirk and Cory, and Bill Jr.
