Marney Gellner, Fox Sports North's do-it-all woman, becomes rare female reporter to do NBA play-by-play (2024)

Marney Gellner still remembers the first time she appeared on camera for Fox Sports North back in 2002.

She was settling in for her role as the pregame host alongside Mychal Thompson and she held a clipboard with the script on her lap. As the show began, Gellner crossed her legs and the clipboard fell to the floor, conjuring Albert Brooks’ debut in “Broadcast News.”

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“I just froze,” Gellner said with a chuckle. “The stagehand picked it up to hand it back to me. I was sweating. I’m pretty sure I’ve never worn a skirt since because I had my legs crossed and that’s how the clipboard fell off. Rookie Marney had no idea.

“But they kept me and they’ve continued to keep me. So I think longevity and stability are good for me. They work for me.”

Sixteen years later, Gellner’s comfort in front of the camera has made her an extremely popular fixture for the Twin Cities’ sports fan. Her ever-expanding role will get another boost Wednesday night when the Timberwolves play the Bulls in Chicago. Gellner will fill in for Dave Benz and give FSN an extreme rarity in the NBA: a female play-by-play announcer.

Women have become ubiquitous in the role of sideline reporters for NBA games. Several, including ESPN’s Doris Burke, Stephanie Ready with the Hornets and Sarah Kustok with the Nets, have held the role of color commentator. But finding a woman who has done play-by-play is a much more difficult task. Leandra Reilly became the first to do it when she called a game between the 76ers and the Nets back in 1988. Fox Sports North wasn’t made aware of any others, at least in the Fox family of regional networks, since.

Women like Pam Ward and Beth Mowins have called major sporting events and Gellner has done play-by-play for the WNBA’s Lynx, women’s volleyball, college basketball, soccer, softball and even a half-inning for the Twins during a night when she bounced around to nine different positions in the FSN broadcast.

“How a woman has not landed in the play-by-play chair in the last 30 years is really astonishing,” Gellner said. “I’m sure that’s where we’re headed. I don’t know why that barrier hasn’t been broken and established a little more frequently. And I don’t know the reason women are funneled (to women’s sports). I don’t have a theory for it. I wish it wasn’t even a storyline that the Timberwolves were going to have a female play-by-play announcer.”

Gellner is reluctant to put too much on Wednesday night’s bit of history because of her sensitivity for how it came about. Benz had done 496 consecutive Wolves games for FSN, but stepped away for this one to be with an ailing family member.

.@MarneyGellner will be on play-by-play duty Wednesday night for the @Timberwolves’ game in Chicago. #AllEyesNorth pic.twitter.com/fKBrpcjRD8

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) December 24, 2018

“This will be significant for me personally. But it’s not the biggest story,” she said. “I’m not going into it waving flags and tooting horns and with a megaphone. Watch me and look at what I’m about to do. It’s too hard to have an attitude like that.”

But it will be another significant accomplishment for a North Dakota native who has cemented herself here in part because she has never been interested in resume padding. She has held the same job at FSN for 16 years because she prioritizes stability and has steadily gotten more comfortable with allowing her sense of humor and quirky personality to shine through on the broadcasts.

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“I think the thing with Marney is people feel they can relate to her, and that’s why they like her so much,” said Vanessa Lambert, a producer of Twins and Wolves games at FSN. “I think she’s just someone who could be your next-door neighbor or your friend. Some on-air talent come across as kind of fake or have a persona. Marney’s on-air persona is her persona off-air, too. She’s the same person.”

She is married with two children, and the search for balance never ends. When she can, she tries to avoid the 10-day West Coast road trips that the Wolves take, and she missed Derrick Rose’s 50-point night this season to go trick-or-treating with her kids.

I missed an amazing night at Target Center but I hung out with Unicorn and Hodgepodge all night and don’t regret a thing❤️ pic.twitter.com/873g8Vpq3z

— Marney Gellner (@MarneyGellner) November 1, 2018

“I have a great balance in my life where it’s so important for me to have my time at home. Anything career-wise has just been, am I happy? Am I satisfied?” Gellner said. “And I really have been to this point. I’ve basically had the same job for 16 years. I like my job and I like the balance it’s given me at home. I’m not climbing to try to get that next NBA play-by-play job.”

It hasn’t stopped her from excelling in her role. She is quick-witted and her comfort in front of the camera is disarming. On the Timberwolves beat, she serves the invaluable role of ice breaker in pregame chats with Tom Thibodeau and players, always starting the chats with the first two questions. She takes her work seriously, preps and does her homework, but also brings a refreshing perspective to the job. It’s just sports, after all. It is supposed to be fun.

“If I make a mistake, a number or a pronunciation or a stat, I can’t stop thinking about it. I have trouble sleeping and beat myself up,” Gellner said. “A lot of people do that. I am really careful on air about being right, about being prepared, about being professional. But I can’t hold back my goofy.

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“I was not comfortable with letting it out in the first five years. I’ve become much more comfortable because I feel much more secure. I just feel like that’s part of me and that’s part of entertainment. Sports is entertainment. We’re putting a show on TV. It’s a show. It’s entertainment.”

She’s always been up for anything, as evidenced by her tip of the cap to Detroit Tigers utilityman Andrew Romine, who became the fifth player in MLB history to play all nine positions in a game against the Twins in 2017.

If Romine can do it, I can do it. Maybe. I think. Probably. Here's my day on @fsnorth: pic.twitter.com/r8WPvnoR6i

— Marney Gellner (@MarneyGellner) October 1, 2017

“She knows that there is a factor that she brings to the table that not many people bring,” said Lindsay Whalen, the coach of the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team and a former Lynx star who worked closely with Gellner and calls her a friend. “Knowing that it’s still entertainment and it’s supposed to be fun. She gets her point across. But she has her humor and she always brings the energy every day. She knows when it’s game time, whether it’s the Twins, the Wolves, the Lynx, that’s why she’s so good and has had so much success.”

It is a one-time thing. Benz will return for the game Friday night against the Hawks to re-form a tandem with analyst Jim Petersen that is among the very best in the NBA.

“I’m not treating it as this big event. It’s cool. It’s a great opportunity,” she said. “But it’s just hopping into a different seat for a minute and then hopping back over. I get it. I get the significance. It doesn’t feel like it should be in 2018 that this should be a big deal to have a woman call an NBA game.”

But if the circumstances were different?

“I’d have a small megaphone, but not like regulation size,” she deadpanned. “I’m just really sensitive to the reason this is all happening. Compartmentalizing, it’s a pretty cool career opportunity.”

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Gellner does know that there could be a 12-year-old girl watching the broadcast Wednesday night, who suddenly understands that there is another avenue available to her if she wants to pursue a career connected to the NBA. That part is not lost on her. Nor is it that her 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter will be home watching Mommy go to work, either.

“If there is a young girl watching that suddenly thinks that there might be more opportunities in the world than she thought of, that is an incredible blessing,” she said. “I also think if there is a young boy watching who thinks that it’s pretty awesome that girls are going to do that in the world that he lives in, that’s pretty awesome, too.”

She is excited to work alongside Petersen, one of the most respected analyst voices in the league.

“Oh, my gosh. Dang,” she said. “I don’t even have any worries. I’m not even nervous about it mostly because I know Pete’s going to be right there. If there’s a moment when I need to lean on someone, he’s going to be the one carrying the broadcast. Let’s face it. I’m just there to keep the train on the tracks and keep the car out of the ditch for one game.”

The familiarity that Wolves fans have with her should make the transition fairly seamless. And it’s Gellner’s hope that she slides into the role and few people even notice.

“They’re used to my voice. They associate me with the team,” she said. “If it doesn’t really strike anyone as anything really different, that means I haven’t made many mistakes and there’s not a reason to notice a difference, then that’s probably perfection.”

A few days before her big debut, she was still working out the kinks in her approach.

“I’ve been working on a signature call,” she says with a wry sarcasm. “I know boom goes the dynamite is taken. I’m thinking, ‘Bang goes the dynamite.’ KAT has his claws out tonight.

“Just playing around and seeing what sticks.”

(Photo of Gellner interviewing the late Flip Saunders in 2014: David Sherman / Getty Images)

Marney Gellner, Fox Sports North's do-it-all woman, becomes rare female reporter to do NBA play-by-play (1)Marney Gellner, Fox Sports North's do-it-all woman, becomes rare female reporter to do NBA play-by-play (2)

Jon Krawczynski is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Minnesota Timberwolves, the NBA and the Minnesota Vikings. Jon joined The Athletic after 16 years at The Associated Press, where he covered three Olympics, three NBA Finals, two Ryder Cups and the 2009 NFC Championship Game. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonKrawczynski

Marney Gellner, Fox Sports North's do-it-all woman, becomes rare female reporter to do NBA play-by-play (2024)
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