Steve Martin has been the iconic voice of the NBA in Charlotte because he never thought he was bigger than the games he called or the people who surrounded him.
The Hornets announced Tuesday morning that Martin plans to retire at the end of the 2017-18 season. Whether on radio or television – he switched back-and-forth multiple times – Martin has called every season of NBA basketball here since the original Hornets’ debut in 1988.
At 65, Martin told me Tuesday it’s just time: He has the financial resources to retire comfortably. He, his wife and his father (who has lived with the Martins the past several years) will summer in Maine and spend the other eight months in the Charlotte area.