48 OregonStater.org PHOTO BY BRUCE ELY OUR COMMUNITY LAMAR HURD TRUSTS HIS GUT How one Beaver built a life in basketball around what mattered most. BY > KATHERINE CUSUMANO, MFA ’24 It is 6:25 p.m. at the Moda Center, and Lamar Hurd, ’06, is due on camera. He wears a chic plaid suit with a coordinating tie. A producer threads a headset through his jacket, and Hurd takes his seat on a courtside stool. In the seconds before he lights is the “how and why” guy to playby-play announcer Kevin Calabro’s “what you’re seeing” guy, which means that while Calabro calls each pass and point, Hurd explains their significance. A former point guard for the Oregon State Beavers and a longtime youth coach and mentor, he has a knack for translating complex plays into words, as well as a profound interest in sharing his love for the game. These qualities, along with a propensity to go on oddball tangents — opining about The Grinch or The Lion King — have earned him legions of fans. As a sampling of Reddit commenters puts it: “I feel like I become a more knowledgeable basketball fan the more I listen to him.” “Lamar should be on ESPN. He’s really that good.” “Lamar Hurd is a legend, don’t tell me otherwise.” up for the camera, his expression turns blank, as though he’s retreated to some interior world. Then a producer counts down three, two, one, and the Portland Trail Blazers pre-game show is live. Hurd has been the Blazers’ television analyst for a decade now. He
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