Nike Crown League: Interview With Announcer Q Mack

The Nike Crown League in Toronto is home to a lot of characters, but none so colourful as the lead announcer Quincy Mack, aka Q Mack.

“That shot was like a gift from Victoria Secret, nothing but mesh!”

Catch phrases like that are an example of how Q Mack keeps the crowd laughing and hyped. However, he also isn’t afraid to sprinkle in some references for the older crowd.

Q-Mack took some time to chat with Tip of the Tower about his origins as an announcer, the evolution of Crown League, and his famous catch phrases.

How did you get the nickname Q Mack?

My real name is Quincy Mack so I shortened it down in 1999. When Tracy Mcgrady was playing in Toronto, he was T-mac, so that’s when Q Mack was born.

How did you get this gig as the Crown League Announcer?

Back in 1999, when Nike was collaborating with the NBA for the Hoop it Up Tour, they would travel from Vancouver to Halifax. I was about 21 years old and I was in school for radio broadcasting at Humber college at the time. They saw me doing some of my freestyle basketball tricks and they needed a host. So I put my two passions together, of being a loud mouth and doing basketball tricks at the same time. Ever since then I’ve been hosting and entertaining for both the NBA and Nike for 17 years.

Where do you get the catchphrases? You have a lot of the crowd rolling with them.

I sit home and write a couple clever ones every week. I’m always thinking as a fan myself, I like to be sitting in the stands and entertained. So, instead of saying, “Oh! What a shot that was!” I think it’s more entertaining to say “That shot was like a gift from Victoria Secret, nothing but mesh!” Make them think about it, that’s all.

Who do you get your inspiration from for the catchphrases and the voice that you use?

I’ve always been a big fan of basketball announcers with big colourful personalities like Chuck Swirsky, Dick Vitale. They’re divisive because not everyone likes them being so over the top, but I’d say eight out of 10 basketball fans can appreciate when coach Jack Armstrong says, “get that garbage outta heya!”

Do you ever get a reaction from the players when you say lines about them?

You can be really generic, but if you’re original and you give the players something they’ve never heard before, you’ll see the players look up and say, “who said that? Put a muzzle on that guy.”

I noticed you like to use a lot of older references in your call outs.

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I always try to base it in a deep basketball knowledge instead of just having clever lines. I also like to have throwback lines like, “that guy serves it up like the Waiter, Toni Kukoc.” The guys been retired for years, but there’s a lot of 40 year old’s who really appreciate that. So I have as many, “he’s never nervous like Pervis Ellison” lines as I have Kevin Durant or Derrick Rose lines. I take it all the way from the 60s to the present day, to give some of these kids a history lesson at Crown League. I did my homework, I showed up early and I’m staying late.

Since we’re talking about history, what’s been the development from Crown League’s inception to now?

My best friend Charles Yearwood from Nike Canada had this project as his brain child. He thought as long as we can get three weeks and six teams together that’s a great start. It was so nice we had to do it twice, so now we have six weeks of action and a pretty interesting playoff format. Even the venue is different. Last year we were at Jarvis collegiate, a high school where we were making the best with what we had… but, it was still a high school. This year we’ve got Ryerson University and everything is customized, we’ve got Crown League emblems all over the wall and the Toronto skyline posted everywhere.

That Crown League court is second to none. I like it better than the one I saw at the All-Star Game this year.

Which team or player do you think the crowd should be looking out for going forward?

It’s tough to say, but there are a lot of celebrity sightings out here. There are professional basketball players from professional ranks all across the world, as well as our own homegrown talent. Simon Farine always looks hot in shooting lines, but every week you see a new face. There’s also the big man from Humber College, Kevin Shand. Kevin Shand, like myself, is getting up in age, but he’s out there banging with the young kids. Don’t let the grey hair and beard fool you, a little Just For Men and they’ll be wiping you out in no time.

Next: The Nike Crown League Experience

What’s your favourite Catchphrase that you use?

It’s hard to choose because they’re all originals, but it’s between, “he’s getting more buckets than a KFC on a Tuesday!” or, “that shot was like a gift from Victoria Secret, nothing but mesh!”