The Charlotte Hornets have hired WFNZ host Chris Kroeger as their new radio play-by-play announcer, replacing the retired Steve Martin.
Kroeger has done the team's pre-game show, plus sideline reporting at home games. He will leave his midday show on sports-talk station WFNZ AM-610 to go to work full-time for the NBA team. The Hornets announcement said Kroeger will also have a presence on hornets.com and the team's social-media platforms.
Kroeger replaces a Charlotte institution in Martin, who called the first 30 years of Hornets basketball, here or in New Orleans, since the NBA expanded to Charlotte in 1988.