Kelley grew up in St. Louis and has had many twists and turns in a broadcasting career that now has him ingrained as the radio play-by-play voice of the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. But he’s veered off the traditional path, so much so that until recently he was serving as a firefighter St. Tammany Parish, near New Orleans.
Kelley, 46, began as a volunteer firefighter and worked his way up to a paid position, moonlighting while his broadcast career was growing. But he now is entrenched in radio, so much so that he has been doing some side work for ESPN Radio.