Editing Al McCoy (sportscaster) (section)

===The simulcast era (1972-2003)===
On September 27, 1972, McCoy broadcast his first game with the Suns, alongside Hot Rod Hundley, during the NBA preseason hosted by [[American Basketball Association|ABA]] team the [[Utah Stars]].<ref name="McCoy's-Book" /><ref name="ESPN-Death">{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.ph/nba/story/_/id/41365800/al-mccoy-long-radio-voice-suns-dies-age-91|title=Al McCoy, longtime radio voice of Suns, dies at age 91|publisher=[[ESPN]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=September 22, 2024|access-date=January 25, 2025}}</ref> Initially, McCoy would handle production of both the radio and TV broadcasts by himself. He would hire a television crew in each city for road games after arriving in the destination city. He handled his own [[audio engineer]]ing and would, on an occasion or two, have to broadcast games via [[telephone]] due to technical difficulties. He helped sell advertising and would meet with any potential clients alongside Jerry Colangelo.  McCoy observed "maybe 8 people in the entire front office" when he was hired, first-hand witnessing the Suns organization's gradual and eventual growth into a company that now employs hundreds.<ref name="McCoy's-Book" />

The first Triple-Overtime game in [[NBA Finals]] history, Game 5 of the [[1976 NBA Finals]] at Boston Garden, was memorable in many ways to McCoy, who broadcast the game directly beside a group of rowdy, inebriated [[Boston Celtics|Celtics]]' fans, one of whom passed out on McCoy's lap amidst the frenzy as "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" by [[Gar Heard]] sent the game into league-history. McCoy deftly pushed the fan off his lap and onto the floor mid-sentence as he continued his broadcast unabated.<ref name="McCoy's-Book" />

He was also courtside, live on the air for the second Triple-Overtime game in NBA Finals History during Game 3 of the [[1993 NBA Finals]] between the [[Charles Barkley]]-led Phoenix Suns and [[Michael Jordan]]'s [[Chicago Bulls]].

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Phoenix Suns Radio and TV simulcast, early 200s.jpg|thumb|right|The final years and final broadcast team for the [[Phoenix Suns]] longtime [[radio]]/[[TV]] [[simulcast]] format, circa 2000s.  Al McCoy continues on radio, [[Eddie Johnson (basketball, born 1959)|Eddie Johnson]] continues on TV.{{Deletable file-caption|Saturday, 11 March 2023|F7}}]] -->
The NBA's adoption of the [[Three-point field goal]] in 1979 would prove as influential to McCoy's career as it would to modern basketball itself. Upon its integration into the league, McCoy viewed the shot as the equivalent of a [[home-run]] in [[baseball]]. Noting that every baseball announcer has their own "signature call" for home-runs, he questioned what his NBA call could be. Thinking back to his childhood on the farm, his favorite comic book [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] and the moment mild-mannered Billy Batson transformed into the mighty Captain Marvel by shouting the word "SHAZAM!" to a flurry of thunder and lightning, McCoy believed this phrase - an acronym for the first initials of [[Solomon]], [[Hercules]], [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], [[Zeus]], [[Achilles]] and [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] - would convey the proper level of enormity and distinction he felt the shot deserved.<ref name="McCoy's-Book" />

In July 2003, after 31 years of being simulcast on both television and radio, the Suns organization relented to growing NBA pressure to end the simulcast format after then Suns General Manager [[Bryan Colangelo]] felt a younger presence would be better suited to TV.<ref name="McCoy's-Book" /> McCoy agreed to move to radio-only broadcasts on the previously established [[#Suns Radio Network|Suns Radio Network]] and was replaced on television play-by-play with Tom Leander, continuing with McCoy's then-color-commentator and broadcast partner [[Eddie Johnson (basketball, born 1959)|Eddie "EJ" Johnson]].<ref name="SimulcastEnds-Leander" />