Matt Pinto
The voice of the Oklahoma City Thunder
Matt is a veteran NBA play-by-play announcer calling all the Oklahoma City Thunder radio broadcast during the NBA season.
Before joining the Thunder, Pinto was in Los Angeles where he has served as the radio voice of the Los Angeles Clippers for two seasons. The Boston native has a mountain of broadcasting experience and is always ready to break down a game.
From 1990-1997, Pinto was the radio play-by-play voice of the Charlotte Hornets. Pinto was also the television play-by-play voice of UNC-Charlotte basketball games. Also, Pinto was an occasional host of ESPN national sports talk shows and the play-by-play voice of Westwood One college basketball.
From Charlotte, Pinto became the radio play-by-play voice for the Dallas Mavericks in 1997. He also worked as the television voice of the Mavericks from 2001-2005. While in Dallas, Pinto worked as a talk show host for KESN (ESPN 103.3 FM) and was the play-by-play announcer of the NCAA Division IAA regional game of the week for The Football Network.
In 1997, the Associated Press named Pinto best play-by-play announcer for the state of Texas.
Before joining the NBA, Pinto’s background in sports casting was extensive. He was the play-by-play radio voice of the University of Hawaii men’s sports. He also had stints for the Boston College basketball team, Brown University football, Pawtucket Red Sox AAA baseball. He also worked as a sports anchor for CBS-TV affiliate KGMB-TV in Honolulu Hawaii for three years.
Gideon Hamilton
Studio host of Thunder basketball
Gideon is a Sports Animal veteran that came up in the ranks to become the host of Thunder basketball and the Oklahoma State pre and post game show
Starting off as a producer, Gideon displayed his knowledge and love of basketball. This knowledge allows him to paint the perfect picture of a game before each Thunder broadcast.
Before Gideon became the host of Thunder basketball on WWLS. He was known for being the producer of Inside Sports with Al Eschbach. Gideon also was the co-host of Thunder basketball with Craig Humphreys before talking on Craig’s role during the 2015-2016 NBA season.
Gideon is a local Oklahoma product being born in Shawnee and attending Oklahoma State in the early 2000s. After graduating in 2005, Gideon would join WWLS in 2008 and one of the best fill-ins the Sports Animal has to offer.
When Gideon isn’t setting the scene for a Thunder game or breaking down an OSU game, he takes his basset hound “Rocky” to the dog park. He also watches a wide range of sports including wrestling, golf, and tennis.
Gideon’s first love of sports came in the form of basketball. He credits former Oklahoma State play-by-play voice Bill Teegins as the reason he wanted to be in radio. Gideon has also said being selected to host Thunder basketball as the top moment of his time on WWLS. He also said, “having access to athletes in the sports world in the way that we do is the best thing about working for the sports animal.”
