The legendary basketball commentator and analyst Billy Packer passed away on January 26th, 2023.
The news was confirmed on Twitter by Billy Parker’s son, Mark. The post entailed the Packer family photograph and a short message conveying the sad news.
Billy Packer Cause of Death:
According to Mark Packer, Billy Packer was admitted to the Charlotte hospital in North Carolina three weeks ago.
He was suffering from various health issues and finally succumbed to kidney failure. This news was shared later that night by Mark Packer to the press.
Who was Billy?
Billy Packer’s full name was Anthony William Packer.
He was an American commentator and also a published author. But his commentating and his interest in basketball made him who he was.
Since college, Packer has been fascinated by basketball and played on the varsity basketball team during his university days.
Billy Packer started to work for NBC and CBS soon enough. He worked there collectively for 34 years.
He was appointed to cover every NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship, which included the Final Four. He covered this Championship from 1975 to 2008.
During his NBC and CBS days, he also commented on the ACC games for Raycom Sports.
Unfortunately, the 35-year-long commentating era of Billy Packer covering the NCAA tournament ended when it was announced that Clark Kellogg would replace him on July 15th, 2008.
Achievements of Billy Packer:
In 1993, Billy was awarded the Sports Emmy Award for his work. To commend his outstanding achievement in covering the ACC, he was applauded with the Marvin Francis Award in 2005.
Billy Parker was the one to call the 1982 PPA National Championship, creating history.
The call featured four Future Hall of Fame players among eight contestants.
His memorable calls:
In April 1983, Billy Packer declared North Carolina as the NCAA title winner while commenting about Lorenzo Charles winning a slam dunk.
Another one of his memorable calls was when he used the popular phrase ‘Simon says’ when he saw Miles Simon celebrating the University of Arizona’s winning the National title in 1997.
One of his famous calls was during the 1991 National semi-final, where Duke was losing by five points to UNLV.
Packer said that Duke does not need a three-pointer, just when Bobby Hurley made one of the biggest shots in the history of Duke basketball games.
Billy has a legendary period in the commentating and analyst field and will forever be remembered for his work and great commentating skills.
Billy Packer, may his soul rest in peace.
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