Dwyane Wade isn’t the only one representing the Heat during All-Star Weekend
Dwyane Wade isn’t the only one representing the Heat during All-Star Weekend.
Heat public address announcer Michael Baiamonte was selected to take his voice to Charlotte to serve as the PA announcer for the events held at Bojangles’ Coliseum, which included Friday’s Celebrity Game and Saturday’s All-Star practices.
It marked the first time Baiamonte has been selected as one of the voices of All-Star Weekend.
“I will get a chance to introduce Dwyane Wade at an event at his last All-Star Game,” said Baiamonte before he introduced Wade at Saturday’s All-Star practice. “So that’s pretty cool.”
Baiamonte’s journey to this point is also pretty cool.
The 55-year-old Baiamonte grew up in Miami and attended Gulliver Prep, and developed an interest in basketball and announcing at a young age.
“I really kind of fell in love with listening to games on television and hearing these big booming voices in the background,” Baiamonte said. “Not the play-by-play guy, not the color analyst, but this voice I could hear in the background. It sounded so powerful to me and it sounded almost like there was a communication going on between that voice and the crowd. The more energized that voice got, the more enthused the crowd got.”
After serving as a PA announcer at Gulliver and Florida International University, Baiamonte started working for an insurance company before becoming the Heat’s full-time PA announcer in the 1991-92 season.
“I was doing both [jobs],” said Baiamonte, who later decided to make PA announcing his one job in 1999. “I was working in corporate America in the day and on game nights I was doing Heat games, and going back to my job the next day. On and on and on, it went.”
Through the years, Baiamonte has created a lot of trademark calls. But none may be bigger than the “Dos Minutos” he announces at the two-minute mark of every quarter to inject some Spanish into home games.
“Dos Minutos has caught on and is so vocally iconic in South Florida,” he said. “I would venture to say, and I don’t mean to make it more than it is, that if you went into a crowded place anywhere in Miami and yelled out the word, ‘Dos,’ as loud as you could, somebody in that room is going to just yell back, ‘Minutos.’
“It caught on. Not only did it catch on, but it has now become a mainstay of Miami. I put on social media my thanks and how excited I am to be out here. There were more responses on social media back to me saying, ‘Can’t wait to hear Dos Minutos at the All-Star Game’ more than anything.”
As far as player names Baiamonte is known for announcing, Wade is at the top of the list.
“Next to maybe Alonzo Mourning, Dwyane Wade and that name and the way I have announced his name his entire career, I’m going to miss saying that,” Baiamonte said, with Wade retiring at the end of the season. “The reaction it gets inside AmericanAirlines Arena or really anywhere in town whenever they hear me say, ‘Dwyane Wade,’ it tell me that the fans immediately recognize the greatness in him just in me saying his name.’”
Extra special jersey exchange?
Swapping jerseys with an opposing player after each game has become a signature element of Wade’s final NBA season.
Wade hopes to continue that tradition following Sunday’s All-Star Game, but with a twist.
With All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, Wade hopes to exchange jerseys with Hornets owner Michael Jordan. Growing up in Chicago, Wade idolized Jordan when Jordan was playing for the Bulls.
“I told everybody, and it’s probably tougher than [former President] Barack [Obama] coming to my wedding, exchanging jerseys with Jordan would be my most ideal person to exchange with,” Wade said. “Most of the guys in this game, I’ve already exchanged jerseys with in the regular season.”
