One of the most distinctive voices in sports broadcasting, Marv Albert prided himself on keeping his own personality subservient to the events he was covering. For most of his three decade career, the dry, sardonic New Yorker managed to hew to that credo. But when a personal scandal rocked his life off its moorings in 1997, the self-effacing Albert found himself the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.

Born Marvin Aufrichtig, Albert attended Syracuse University's highly-regarded broadcasting school. He mentored under legendary New York City sports announcer Marty Glickman and made his initial splash as a radio play-by-play man for the New York Knicks. A generation of New York basketball fans fondly recalls Albert's call of Game Seven of the 1970 NBA (National Basketball Association) Finals, in which an ailing Knick captain Willis Reed valiantly limped onto the court to lead his team to...