Jim Gray has occupied a ringside seat to sports history for decades. He’s hosted the 2010 LeBron James TV special “The Decision,” grilled Pete Rose about gambling during the 1999 World Series, and served as ESPN’s sideline reporter for the infamous “Malice at the Palace” NBA brawl in 2004.

Gray and Tom Brady are teaming up to open the Hall of Excellence sports museum at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas on June 20. Visitors—led by a self-guided tour narrated by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman—will be able to see all seven of Brady’s Super Bowl rings, Michael Jordan’s first Air Jordans from 1984, the bat used by Jackie Robinson to break baseball’s color barrier, a golf ball used by Tiger Woods during his historic Masters win in 1997, and other sports artifacts from the 20th and 21st centuries. Famous sports TV voices like Jim Nantz, Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Mary Carillo, and Doc Emrick will also describe the 300-plus mementos if visitors want to get more than Freeman’s narration.

Front Office Sports interviewed the 12-time Emmy Award–winner about his new venture with Brady—and the highs and lows of his sports media career:

Front Office Sports: What were the craziest events you covered? Malice at the Palace? Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield [where Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s ears]?

Jim Gray: Those would be a couple of the craziest, yes. Also, Ben Johnson [winning] on steroids [at the 1988 Seoul Olympics]. … I’m proud of the Tyson ear-biting because that’s never happened before and is never going to happen again. And I didn’t screw it up.

FOS: How about your favorite career moments?

JG: Muhammad Ali lighting the torch [at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games]. And [President George W.] Bush throwing out the first pitch [at the 2001 World Series in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks]. Those were great, great moments that will never be forgotten for all the right reasons. … It took 14 years to convince President Bush to do the documentary. But I got him to do it with the “First Pitch” 30 for 30. That was just a mesmerizing moment. There was nothing political about it. He made the decision, much like FDR had made, we’re going to play baseball. We’re going to grieve. We’re not going to ever forget what happened. … But we’re trying to have some little bit of normalcy in our day. That took a lot of courage. Standing out there by himself at a time when anthrax was being passed around, and everybody was thinking there was going to be another terrorist attack. It was just a great moment. Probably the only better I’ve seen was Ali at the opening ceremonies that night when he lit the torch. By the way, we have the torch that lit the torch.

FOS: Any instances where you would want a do-over? I’m thinking of the criticism you took for “The Decision?”

JG: I could have done better that night. I could have explained why we were there, for the Boys & Girls Club [of America]. That we were giving away $6.5 million that evening—still the largest contribution to the Boys & Girls Club—that changed the lives of thousands of kids. I could have explained that better. Had I explained that better, then people would have understood the backdrop. Could we have all done better on that evening? Yes, but I look at that as the ultimate player empowerment. That was the Curt Flood moment for professional basketball and professional athletes. You look back now, at how that has changed everything, it was a seminal moment. So I’m proud of it. Doesn’t mean I couldn’t have done better. But if you look at what that has done to all of these guys, across all the spectrum of sports, particularly the NBA, that was a big moment that changed a lot for everybody. They can all thank LeBron for making their lives a lot better.

He’s supposed to suffer because he wants to change teams? It’s ridiculous. It’s a ridiculous premise. What’s the difference between that and somebody standing on a podium and having a press conference? The fact that perhaps the Cleveland Cavaliers were not alerted until the last moment? … It wasn’t my decision; it was LeBron’s. Everybody felt bad for those fans. But LeBron went back, made it up to them, and won a championship there.

For more from Gray—including his thoughts on Pete Rose, Michael Jordan’s TV future, and his new Hall of Excellence with Tom Brady—read the full interview here.

• NBA commissioner Adam Silver tackled the thorny topic of NBA Finals ratings before Game 3 this week. “People compare us to 20 years ago, but Games 1 and 2 are the highest-rated programs in May and June so far on television,” he said during an appearance on ESPN’s pregame show. “If something beats us, it’ll be another sports program. Back 20 years ago, we often didn’t win the night when The Finals were on. But the absolute rating is lower now.” 
• Our FOS reporter Colin Salao wrote a fascinating story about the Caitlin Clark Effect on WNBA TV ratings. He found that viewership for the two NBA TV games the Fever superstar recently missed due to injury was down 40%. Similarly, viewership for CBS’s coverage of Sunday’s Fever–Chicago Sky game—without Clark—was off 30% from ABC’s season opener.  
• Nick Faldo will hold a free virtual watch party during Sunday’s final round of the 2025 U.S. Open. Fans can sign up at letshang.live to get free real-time commentary from the former lead golf analyst for CBS Sports, a six-time major tournament champion.
• Pablo Torre revealed that Thunder GM Sam Presti once explored the idea of hiring Brian Windhorst away from ESPN to make him an “information guy.”
• Viewership for Game 3 of the NBA Finals was up from the first two games of the series but down about 20% from last year. Total average viewership through three games is down 23% from last year’s Finals.

9.19 million

Average viewership for Wednesday night’s Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder on ABC. It was down nearly 20% from the 11.43 million from last year’s Game 3 between the Celtics and Mavericks.

One prominent ex-sports media PR executive who declined to be named weighed in on the Week 1 NFL TV schedules vis-a-vis CBS and Fox Sports: “The Tuned In media newsletter is outstanding. A must read. Just a thought….CBS Sports has hit the jackpot with Week 1 of the upcoming NFL season. Pittsburgh at NY Jets – 1 pm. Detroit at Green Bay – 4:25 pm Where do you send Mr. Nantz and Mr. Romo? And the selections for week 1 for Mr. Brady do not look like there are any blockbusters.”