A longtime NBA announcer was on-air when he suffered a scary medical energy on Monday Night. Bob Rathbun, an announcer who calls Atlanta Hawks games for Bally Sports, was previewing the upcoming game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with co-host and Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins. It was at that time when Rathbun, 68, collapsed and began to convulse (video can be found here). Medical personnel came to Rathbun’s aid quickly, and the cames cut away, as mentioned by PEOPLE.
“Prior to tonight’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, play-by-play announcer Bob Rathbun briefly lost consciousness on the court,” a statement from Bally Sports Southeast said. “Emergency medical professionals on-site quickly treated Rathbun for dehydration. He is stable, responsive and heading to Emory Midtown for further evaluation.”
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Rathbun was alert with the medical team, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Announcers Lauren Jbara filled in for Rathbun who has been calling Hawks for 27 years. Kelly Crull, who also covers the Hawks for Bally Sports, shared an encouraging update on Rathbun on Tuesday.
“GREAT news everyone…just heard from our friend Bob Rathbun who assured me he is feeling much better, just physically exhausted,” Crull wrote on Twitter. “He’s hoping to be released from the hospital shortly & then he’ll be home resting Keep those prayers coming & let’s get Bob back on his feet asap.”
Rathbun has been covering the Hawks since 1996. During his career, the award-winning announcer has also called games for the Atlanta Dream for the WNBA, Atlanta Braves, SEC football games and ACC Football games. Rathbun is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and has been named Virginia Sportscaster of the Year six times.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated last year, Rathbun talked about calling games during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The gameday routine changed once I left my house,” he said. “Instead of going to the plane, I would just go to the arena – home games and road games. And once we got to the arena for the road games, it was very very different. There was nobody in the building but us. There were about ten people upstairs, and the production people in the truck are outside the building. But we were all in it together, all the broadcast teams did the games exactly the same way, and we are just hoping that we will be able to go back and enjoy our old routine this year.”
