Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier

Huddle Up with Gus

Joining me in the huddle this week is the Duo of Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier. They have recently started reliving some of the good ol' days on a new podcast they started. On the Road with Buck and Phil is a relaxing trip down memory lane. I would encourage any longtime fan to check it out! Phil and Steve talk to me about growing up and how they fell in love with sports.
Steve was the longtime Washington Wizards play-by-play announcer and a Washington-area sports broadcaster who grew up in Virginia and went to James Madison University. Phil Chenier is a former professional basketball player, a guard in the NBA for ten seasons. Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Chenier graduated from Berkeley High School and played college basketball at the University of California in Berkeley. He was also a television sports broadcaster for the NBA's Washington Wizards.
Buckhantz and Chenier were the familiar faces and voices on Bullets and Wizards broadcasts from 1997 until 2017 when NBC Sports Washington announced Chenier would not return as the team's primary in-game analyst, a role he had for 33 years. While Chenier no longer calls games, he contributes to NBCSW's Wizards coverage. Buckhantz did play-by-play for several college basketball games last season and was working as the public address announcer for the XFL's D.C. Defenders when the novel Coronavirus pandemic postponed the season and ultimately caused the league to fold.
The friendship they have created over years of broadcasting Wizards games pulled them together again to tell their many stories in their podcast. Being able to interview them together gives us a glimpse into their friendship and the incredible journey they enjoyed.
Thanks, Steve and Phil