Lew Shuman, EHS ’66: During 55 Years in Broadcasting, He Produced and Directed 1,600 Pro Basketball Game Broadcasts

Alumni Spotlight

Lew Shuman ’66: During 55 Years in Broadcasting, He Produced and Directed 1,600 Pro Basketball Games

As Lew Shuman neared graduation day at the English High School in Boston in 1966, he wasn’t sure what would come next. He certainly never dreamed he’d produce over 1,600 NBA games, get to know scores of sports legends and celebrities, or write three books.

When Dorchester native Lew Shuman graduated from English High in 1966, the Vietnam War was raging. The draft was in full force, but rather than taking the military route, he enrolled in broadcasting school: “I was always interested in broadcasting. As a youngster, I loved to listen to the radio. I would lay in bed at night with my radio, the transistor stuck in my ear, listening to different radio stations from all around the country.”

Shuman — whose father was a laborer and mother was a seamstress – remembers:

While at EHS, I loved writing. In my senior year I was Sports Editor for the EHS Record and was Manager of the Basketball Team. After high school I enrolled at the Northeast Broadcasting School and saw an opening for an entry-level stage manager at Channel 56. I jumped at the opportunity and applied. I got my foot in the door. From there, it was basically career progression. You prove you can do the job, they give you a little bit more. It was like a carrot and stick. I was the lowest paid person on that staff, but I was hungry to learn the job.

“The only problem was the military draft. I had number 7 (out of 365) which meant I would soon be called to serve. I enlisted in the Army hoping to continue my career in broadcasting.  I was fortunate to avoid combat in Vietnam.  Instead, I was assigned to Iran to support and train the Iranian Army, Navy and Air Force. While there I continued my broadcast career with a weekly show on Armed Forces Radio in Tehran. Upon returning to the U. S., I went back to Channel 56 to pick up where I left off.”

Before he knew he was destined for a career in basketball broadcasting, Lew Shuman, third from left in top row, was the Head Manager of English High’s 1966 team.

While he did his stage manager job, he learned other roles, from audio and video tech to directors and producers. He was soon promoted from the technical side to the production side, directing news, telethons, commercials, events, and sports. When Channel 56 acquired the rights to broadcast Boston Celtics away games, the station looked to Shuman to direct. “I was the only one on staff who had an inkling of how to direct television sports. I was given the opportunity and was rewarded for it,” he says.

“My career delayed getting my college degree,” he smiles. “I took six credits per semester and graduated with a BA in history 10 years after enrolling. A college degree proves you stuck with something, accomplished something and you got a degree for doing that. I had the opportunity as an adult to appreciate what the school could give me, and it paid off.”

Shuman says,

During my EHS years I learned to live with diversity. In the 60’s, the country was in turmoil, yet we all stuck together and watched each other’s backs. I learned and have used one thing when dealing with people and that is Empathy.

As for career advice, he notes, “I can only speak for the broadcast industry, but the careers of many of my peers are coming to an end and there are no immediate replacements ready to step in. The need for camera, audio, editors, technical directors and production people is growing. It can be an exciting career with all travel and expenses paid for. And you meet interesting and often famous people.”

Lew in the 1966 English High Yearbook

“Movement is life”
Shuman says, “I worked with many broadcasting greats and got to know sports legends such as New England Patriots announcer Gil Santos, Celtics legend and sportscaster Bob Cousy, Portland Trail Blazers coach Jack Ramsay, and CBS sportscaster Greg Gumbel and many others. I worked with some great talent – and loved my work. That’s key.”

His broadcasting career included 1,600 professional basketball games that he produced and directed, from the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers to the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans. He received four Regional Sports Emmys for NBA Basketball and Sports Production. His most recent full-time post was as Director of Broadcasting for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets. He has authored three books: 15 Days in Hell, Hoop Die Jour and Hoop Junkie.

Although Shuman retired in May 2016 in the New Orleans area – and he’s dealing with health issues — he still works as a freelance technical manager at Bally Sports Network, is active in the Jewish War Veterans, and volunteers as a docent at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. And when he’s not doing those things, you may find him fishing.

My philosophy in retirement is ‘Movement is life.’ You sit on a couch and watch TV, you’re going to die,” says Shuman. “I’m not sitting on the couch, and I’m not going to die—at least not for a while. You gotta stay busy. That’s what I’m trying to do,” Shuman winks.