Longtime Suns radio voice Al McCoy dies at 91

PHOENIX — Al McCoy, the radio voice of the Phoenix Suns for more than half a century, has died. He was 91.

The team made the announcement on Saturday and released a statement from his family. No cause of death was released.

McCoy was the longest-tenured team reporter in NBA history, covering Suns games for 51 years. He covered his first game on September 27, 1972, and his last on May 11, 2023. His tenure included Phoenix’s NBA Finals appearances in 1976, 1993 and 2021.

“This is a sad day for the Suns and the Suns family,” former Suns star Charles Barkley said in a statement. “Al McCoy represented everything that is great about Phoenix, the Phoenix Suns and people who love basketball. I was blessed and honored to work with Al and I will miss him.”

McCoy is a member of the franchise’s Ring of Honor and was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. He also won the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

McCoy was born in 1933 in Williams, Iowa, and got his first radio job in 1951 in Webster City, Iowa, when he was a freshman at Drake. He moved to Arizona in 1956 when he was the play-by-play announcer for the Triple-A Phoenix Giants baseball team. During his time with the Suns, he became known for catchphrases such as “Shazam,” “Zing Go the Strings” and “Heartbreak Hotel.”

“I had the privilege of having Al McCoy narrate the first eight years of my career,” Suns star Devin Booker said. “He was inducted into Ring of Honor in my second season, and that’s when I really understood what a special talent he was. And over the course of my career, I’ve learned what an even more special person he was.

“We will miss Al and I am so glad that our legacy in Phoenix is ​​forever linked.”