Lakers Spanish TV broadcasters Adrian Garcia-Marquez and Francisco Pinto were selected by a group of their colleagues as the winners of the "Best Live Call" for their vocalization of Kobe Bryant's heroics in a late-season win over Toronto at the NBA's broadcast meetings in New York City on Friday.
"We are honored and humbled by this award," said Garcia-Marquez. "It means so much to us that our peers gave us this distinction. Honestly, we were happily surprised to just have been included on a list with many legendary and talented gentlemen to whom we personally look up."
In the call, Garcia-Marquez details the sinking of a contested, game-tying, overtime-forcing three-pointer from "La Mamba Negra", who had drained two previous triples to keep the Lakers in the game.
"That play was absolutely Vino-inspired," explained Garcia-Marquez.
The accolade is quite a distinction for the pair of broadcasters, who handle play-by-play (Garcia-Marquez) and analysis (Pinto) duties for Time Warner Cable Deportes, particularly as last season was their debut on the first regional Spanish language channel in American professional sports.
"We owe this to so many people, in particular (VP of Time Warner Cable Deportes) Pablo Urquiza and (Lakers Senior VP of Business Operations) Tim Harris for believing in us and giving us the opportunity of a lifetime with the greatest sports franchise ever."