Kevin Harlan Kevin Harlan ( born June 21 , 1960 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin ) is an American television sports announcer . The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan , he currently broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS . Harlan is also a play - by - play announcer for the " NBA on TNT " . Until 2008 , Harlan was the voice of Westwood One Radio ' s Final Four coverage , which is heard on hundreds of radio stations nationwide . In 2009 , he began serving as Westwood One ' s lead announcer for " Monday Night Football " He serves as TNT ' s # 2 announcer Biography . Harlan ' s broadcasting career began in 1982 , when he became the TV and radio voice of the NBA ' s Kansas City Kings ( now the Sacramento Kings ) . He then was a basketball announcer for his alma mater , the University of Kansas , for one year , then went on to call games for the NFL ' s Kansas City Chiefs from 1985 – 93 . Harlan also split time with the University of Missouri ( 1986 – 89 ) calling football and basketball games , and worked as the play - by - play voice of the NBA ' s Minnesota Timberwolves for nine seasons ( 1989 – 98 ) . On the network level , Harlan called NFL football for NBC in 1991 , college football for ESPN in 1992 – 93 , NFL for Fox from 1994 – 97 , and joined Turner Sports in 1996 to cover NBA playoff games ( he would begin calling games throughout the entire season in 1997 , which he continues to do to this day ) . He began working for CBS in 1998 . In addition , Harlan has called Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers preseason games ; basketball games during the now - defunct Goodwill Games , which were owned by Time Warner ; college sports on ESPN ; and several bowl games during college football season . A Wisconsin native , Harlan attended the University of Kansas and graduated in 1982 with a broadcast journalism degree . He took sportscasting classes under the guidance of former Super Bowl and Chiefs play - by - play voice Tom Hedrick . He has also lent his voice on the " NBA 2K " video game series . Curiously , his voice is similar to fellow " NBA on TNT " announcer Marv Albert that 2K Sports turned to him as a play - by - play announcer for said video game , in response to Albert being the voice on competitor EA Sports ' " NBA Live series " . Notable lines . Known for his witty dialogue and assortment of creative banter , Harlan can be heard exclaiming : " Buckle up for . . . " ( when any NBA player is about to slam dunk the ball ) and " Right between the eyes ! " and " He just sucked the gravity right out of the building ! " and " He ' s a flamethrower ! " and " He is an assassin " and " Flight ( jersey number ) is cleared for landing ! " and " Up high . . . and down hard ! " and " Good ! " . Harlan has also been known to exclaim " With no regard for human life ! " after an especially devastating play . The most well known are a dunk by Kobe Bryant against the New York Knicks in 2003 and the LeBron James dunk on Kevin Garnett in the 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals . " Lebron James , with no regard for human life ! " In a playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves , Kobe Bryant performed a reverse windmill dunk over several defenders to which Harlan responded , " Buckle up for Kobe Bryant ! Kobe Bryant just sucked the gravity out of the Target Center ! " During a playoff game in 2005 between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks , the Rockets ' Tracy McGrady drove to the rim and threw down a vicious one handed facial on the Mavericks ' Shawn Bradley , and Kevin Harlan said , " Here comes McGrady - - OH , he just sucked the gravity right out of the building ! What a play by T - Mac ! " As a Kansas City Chiefs announcer , he would often exclaim " Oh baby , what a play ! " on any spectacular play resulting in a touchdown . This started in 1991 during a Monday Night Football game between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium . Also said , " Is this the dagger ? " during the VCU vs Duke game during the 2007 NCAA tournament , when Eric Maynor , made the final winning shot to knock Duke out in first round play . On December 16 , 2010 , in a game between the San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets , following a monstrous dunk by the Nuggets ' JR Smith , Harlan exclaimed , " We just saw man fly ! ! Ride ' em cowboy ! ! ! " On April 20 , 2011 in a first round playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Hornets , former guard of the Hornets Chris Paul , had made two buzzer beater three - point shots , one in the second quarter and the other in the third quarter . When the third quarter buzzer beater was made , Harlan had said , Paul , with a three ! ! Good ! ! Right between the eyes ! ! ! ! ! !