Chris Marlowe had a chance to deliver a low blow.
But he refused to complain. Declined to whine.
Because Marlowe is known as a total professional, he expressed gratitude on social media for his 22-year run calling Nuggets games on Altitude Sports. He did not criticize his bosses for what they did on Tuesday night, texting The Post on Wednesday afternoon, “I just don’t feel it is appropriate for me to comment at this time.”
Allow me.
The decision Kroenke Sports Entertainment made — moving on from Marlowe and color commentator Scott Hastings — is disappointing, if not tone-deaf.
The Nuggets are coming off their most embarrassing playoff series in franchise history given the expectations and capitulation. It cracked open a vase of uncomfortable questions.
Trade Jamal Murray? Ship out Aaron Gordon? Deal Cam Johnson? Keep Peyton Watson?
President Josh Kroenke admitted the early exit “put everything on the table.”
Apparently, that applied to the broadcasters as well.
It remains unclear who called this shot, though if titles matter, it should fall under the purview of Kevin Demoff, the president of team and media operations for KSE.
Demoff has seemed detached from Denver since his hiring in 2024. California media members who have long earned my respect speak well of Demoff when the discussion involves the Rams.
His connection to the Nuggets and Avs has felt more transactional than personal. Never more than on Wednesday when The Post broke the news. Regardless of who made the call, KSE took a man who left so many of us happy and smiling and told him to start packing.
Remember, Marlowe was there through two 15s — Carmelo Anthony and Nikola Jokic. His joy in calling Jokic’s games was unmistakable and unrivaled.
Here was a man who answered the bell for nearly six years knowing that the audience had virtually disappeared because of a dispute with Comcast. An entire swath of Nuggets fans was lost forever. Marlowe did not let it affect his work.
But with his contract expiring, KSE let him go. Was it to change the vibe? Simply being cheap? Who knows.
Marlowe earned the right — even in an increasingly unfair business — to exit on his terms. And clearly he was not ready to leave, saying in his post, “I’m not retiring, and this is not goodbye.”
I switched carriers a year or so into the dispute to keep getting the Nuggets games.
Marlowe was an easy listen, and I enjoyed Hastings wearing out the officials. They made a good team.
And Marlowe made it fun. His “Sombor Shuffle,” “Porter Quarter,” “The Jokie Dok,” “On Fiyah!” and “bunny hop in the pea patch” were a treat. He provided sprinkles on a chocolate chip ice cream cone at a time when local broadcasts have become painfully vanilla and homogenized.
Season after season, Marlowe delivered, and now his time is up? Without eight months to let him know how much he is appreciated? Doesn’t seem right.
At least Hastings is remaining on his midday radio slot. Marlowe will no longer be around. That shouldn’t be allowed.
Basketball announcers are not Vin Scully. If baseball is a romance, football is a one-night stand. But basketball fits somewhere in between. The 82 games form a relationship between the team’s voice and the fans.
If Hastings taught us about the game, Marlowe reminded us that it was a game, his call conjuring images of his idol, the legendary former Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn.
And yes, I have a soft spot for Marlowe because he put in the work with humility and grace.
At every Nuggets pregame presser I attended over the last three seasons, he was there, taking notes and getting in a question or two. He integrated his knowledge seamlessly into the broadcasts, whether an injury update or a strategic shift.
And still, KSE put him on mute. They decided at 74, it was time for a change. And if you focus on his age, it is easy to understand why. But it was just a number, not a reflection of his energy and enthusiasm.
Seeing Hastings at games, he would provide a wisecrack, wondering if I was lost. Scott knows hoops.
And never did I listen to a Nuggets game and think Marlowe had lost his fastball.
Did he mix up some names? Sure. But it was part of the local broadcaster’s charm, part of his appeal. He worked with passion that came through the screen. And he did so without nauseating homerism. He wanted the Nuggets to win, but did not traffic in the terms of “We” and “Us.”
The plan, it appears, is to announce replacements in mid-to-late August. Katy Winge has earned a bigger role on the broadcasts. So maybe she takes over for Hastings.
Marlowe is not easily replaceable, especially if the Nuggets follow the trend of going younger and less experienced.
Just because someone has good vocal cords does not make them great in a play-by-play role. And high basketball IQ alone does not work without a soothing tone with proper inflection in big moments.
Marlowe had this. Excuse me. Has this.
His resume is more akin to that of the most interesting man in the world than to that of a broadcaster. He received a college scholarship in basketball and volleyball at San Diego State, and eventually played for Team USA’s indoor volleyball team. He acted in a soap opera and an NBC sitcom.
But he found his niche in hoops. And remarkably, he never let his past go to his head. He was always friendly and could spin a yarn, like a Bobby Knight story, like he was telling it for the first time.
Marlowe is the type of broadcaster that I believe should have kept his job until he decided to turn off the mic.
For a franchise that faces so many difficult decisions this offseason, renewing his contract should have been the easiest one.
