Knicks radio announcer Tyler Murray: 'It's kind of like living a dream'

Tyler Murray sensed the buzz last autumn.

“You heard a lot of folks calling it the most anticipated Knicks season in decades,” he said. “[They said], ‘We’ve never been this excited for Knicks basketball!’ I was like, that’s funny, neither have I.”

That was because in addition to being a lifelong Knicks fan, Murray, 34, was starting his first season as the team’s lead radio play-by-play voice on ESPN New York.

It was a heady moment for Murray, who had mostly broadcast college and minor-league sports. But the regular season turned out to be a mere warmup.

With MSG Networks contractually out of the mix for the second round of the playoffs, Murray and analyst partner Monica McNutt are the sole local announcers on Knicks games for the duration of their postseason.

“It’s kind of like living a dream, both personally and professionally,” Murray told Newsday on Friday.

Like any smart fan, Murray cautioned on several occasions that there is a long way to go before getting past the Celtics despite the Knicks’ 2-0 series lead.

“But yeah, this has been quite a ride,” he said. “We’re just enjoying it one day at a time.”

The entire season has been a whirlwind for Murray, whose wife, Chrissy, gave birth to their first child, son Owen, three months ago.

But his family is all-in for a deep run.

“Sure, if the season ends, I’ll get to help [Chrissy] a little more with parenting,” Murray said. “But she, of course, wants [the Knicks] to go all the way. And I would have to assume Owen does as well, but he can’t really express that.”

Murray is sensitive to chronicling the Knicks’ story without becoming part of it. The show belongs to Jalen Brunson and friends. But he and McNutt took a social media star turn after Game 2 with the posting of video from the dramatic call of the frantic final seconds of the Knicks’ 91-90 victory in Boston.

“All credit to Monica,” Murray said. “She has just been an incredible hype woman for me, an incredible teammate. Without even thinking about her own benefit, just what she’s done to help give me confidence and publicity has been incredible.

“Those are her videos. She films them, she edits them, she puts them out there . . . I don’t think my phone has blown up that much since I actually got the Knicks job itself. It was definitely a busy 24 hours.”

The video further bonded the increasingly popular duo to fans. When Newsday profiled McNutt last autumn, she said, “Knicks fans have my back in a way that I could never have anticipated. I’m very grateful.”

Murray called the Knicks “maybe the grittiest, clutch-est team in the NBA playoffs right now,” so who knows how far this might go? But he said he has not thought much about being the only local play-by-play voice able to chronicle it.

“If you start to overthink things like that, it can be a little overwhelming,” he said. “But, of course, I take a ton of pride in bringing a local call from my hometown team. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of, so I’m very grateful.”

By Neil Best

[email protected]@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.