California has a rich sports history throughout the state, and the Bay Area is certainly no exception. San Jose native Kevin Danna channeled that passion for sports into a robust and expanding career in broadcasting.
No journey is without its trials and tribulations, and for Danna, his was a learning process that shaped him into the man he is today.
Witnessing Greatness
Growing up in the early 90s as an only child, Kevin was always watching sports on TV. He fell in love with the excitement of professional athletics.
Although he was from the West Coast, he had a particular fondness for Atlanta sports teams, especially the Atlanta Braves.
“It was the 1991 season, and I was four years old,” said Danna. “I turned on TBS randomly and the Braves were beating the [Chicago] Cubs 6-1 in the 5th inning, and I became a Braves fan right there. I adopted all of the Atlanta teams. Back then they used to show the Hawks on TBS, so I’d watch a bunch of Hawks games, and then I became a Falcons fan.”
Danna was captivated by the glory of winning teams; it helped that the Braves went on to clinch 13 more divisional titles in the years that followed.
“I probably would’ve been a fan if they were losing, but it was their first year of winning 14 straight divisional titles, so I caught them at a really good time.”
Watching sports at the highest level inspired Danna to chase his own greatness, so he started playing sports recreationally. The adversity of athletics was a rude awakening for young Kevin, and it was difficult to handle as a kid in school. Even though he struggled at other sports, his love for basketball would never waver.
A Rude Awakening
2001 arrived, and it was his freshman year of high school at Bellarmine College Preparatory School. He was somewhat introverted his first three years, but his passion for basketball was apparent to all. He wanted to play at the next level, so he tried out for the team during his senior year in 2005.
“I can’t really say I faced a lot of adversity playing sports growing up,” said Danna. “At some point, I kinda ran away from adversity as a kid, to be quite honest. I remember quitting my soccer team when I was nine years old, quitting baseball when I was nine. I played basketball longer than that, but I didn’t even make my high school basketball team.”
Little did he know that being cut would be the moment that changed his life forever.
A Blessing in Disguise
Danna’s love for basketball had blossomed, so not making a high school team was devastating at the time. His desire to be involved didn’t fade, so when the coach asked him to be the team manager, he accepted it with an open mind.
He kept track of the team’s statistics and numbers throughout the season, while also developing a more profound love for the sport.
One of the Bellarmine coaches encouraged him to pursue a managerial career in college. So, as high school came to a close, Kevin decided that the nearby Stanford University was the next step for him.
Being a manager for the Cardinal Men’s Basketball team involved filming practice, preparing Gatorade, and doing laundry.
Danna grew closer to the team over time, witnessing the ups and downs of collegiate basketball. It was unfortunate when Cardinals basketball head coach Trent Johnson lost his job on April 10, 2008, after an impressive 28-8 record.
A Harsh Reality
The entire experience of Trent Johnson’s firing introduced Kevin Danna to the ‘real world’ of basketball, and when asked about his reaction to the news, he replied:
“What I learned is that nothing is sacred and nothing is safe,” Danna said. “In my junior year, our coach was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, and we finished second in the league. He didn’t get a contract extension and ended up taking a job at LSU, and I was blind sided. It taught me the business right there: you might be doing well, but your job is never fully secure.”
Stanford hired legendary Duke Blue Devil Johnny Dawkins as their new head coach. Even though Dawkins was receptive, Danna still found it hard to adjust to Coach Johnson leaving.
“I was so upset, but it turned out to be a great experience for me,” he said. “I got to meet a new staff and Johnny Dawkins came in my Senior year. Johnny was awesome and his staff was awesome, but that was an adjustment and a half, man. I thought about quitting at the beginning of the year, but it’s my senior year, and I wasn’t gonna quit.”
Practicing to Become Perfect
Learning about the reality of the game changed Danna’s view of basketball and gave him a deeper appreciation for the sport. Living through such an abrupt change warned him about basketball’s harsh truths.
While assisting the Men’s Basketball team, he also reported on them for their student radio station, KZSU Stanford 90.1 FM.
He started broadcasting in his first year and kept his role at the station, while also serving as team manager. It was all part of his effort to stay connected to the sport he loved, and it was the perfect way to combine his passion for sports commentary.
“It [commentating] was an interest of mine for as long as I can remember, to be honest,” said Danna. “As an only child, I had a basketball hoop outside, and I’d kinda narrate the action as I was shooting hoops. I would make up a game in my head and kinda treat it like a SportsCenter highlight. I also listened to a lot of radio and talk radio growing up, so that was a big inspiration. I just knew I wanted to get into the business somehow.”
Kevin experienced growing pains as he worked to perfect his craft on air with live listeners. He was very hard on himself at first and still feels like he could have done better during those early stages.
“I worked at the radio station for four years while I was the manager and was terrible on the radio,” Danna said. “I’m like: ‘This is what I’m gonna do, this is my plan A, my plan B, and if it doesn’t work out, well, this is my plan C…I never really had a lot of confidence in myself either. I didn’t think I was good, but I’m like this is what I’m gonna do. It’s in my blood. It was almost like a robotic decision. I knew I was bad, but I wasn’t self-conscious enough to the point where I was going to stop doing it.”
Danna graduated from Stanford in 2009 and chose to pursue his Master’s in Broadcast Journalism at Northwestern. While in Chicago, he learned that Joe Lacob had bought the Golden State Warriors, triggering a sequence of events that would change his life forever.
A Golden Opportunity
Kevin Danna’s obsession with basketball helped him cross paths with Kirk Lacob, son of Joe Lacob, who happened to attend Stanford at the same time as Danna. They would play pick-up games on campus and develop a subtle rapport.
In November of 2011, Danna was sitting at home with his newly earned Master’s degree, when he received word that the Lacobs were moving their newly purchased G-League team, the Dakota Wizards, to the Bay Area.
Danna sent Kirk a message on Facebook, saying:
“Hey, if you bring this team to the Bay Area, I wanna do the radio for this team.”
Lacob Replies: “A lot of things need to happen, but you’re my guy, if it does.”
On Oct. 10, 2012, the Warriors announced that they would be establishing a G League team in the Bay Area for the 2012-13 NBA season. Kevin interviewed for the job and competed against many other prominent commentators, trying to be part of a fresh start in Santa Cruz.
“[When] I interviewed for the job, I didn’t think I did a good job in the first interview,” Danna said. “Apparently, I did well enough to get a second interview, and by the second interview, I could kind of tell I was getting this job, based on the questions they were asking me. I was overjoyed because this was really the job that kick-started my career.”
Danna called his first game on Nov. 30, 2012, as the Santa Cruz Warriors defeated the Reno Bighorns 101-95, marking the beginning of a broadcasting journey that continues to this day.
“I remember going to dinner after the game with two of the assistants at the time, Casey Hill and Andrew Loomis, and telling myself, ‘this is what I want to do for the rest of my life’.”
Earning His Wings
Kevin mastered his craft while covering the SeaDubs every night. As the years went on, in Oct. 2023, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that an expansion team would be coming to the Bay Area.
In May 2024, the Golden State Valkyries were officially announced as the league’s 13th team.
Valkyries team president Jess Smith would make appearances at Santa Cruz Warriors games following the announcement. Danna interviewed her at halftime to discuss the excitement around the new team on two different occasions.
Kevin had the same passion for Women’s Basketball, and he expressed his desire to President Smith for the Valkyries’ play-by-play commentator job; sure enough, he wound up making his childhood dream come true.
The Valkyries’ management was aware of his talent after covering the SeaDubs for years, and Smith experienced that firsthand when she met him.
“When I got the call, I felt like ‘hell yeah, I finally did it,'” said Danna. “I was super pumped, I was screaming at the top of my lungs in my apartment. It definitely felt like I had arrived.”
A Bright Future In The Bay
Being part of the historic 2025 Valkyries season was a life-changing experience for Danna, and his love for the Bay Area has grown exponentially after witnessing the Valkyries’ dedicated fanbase.
“This is 18,064 at the Chase Center; I knew that they talked about 15,000 season ticket deposits, and I knew the fan support was gonna be good because the Bay Area had been clamoring for a team for forever,” Danna said. “It’s one thing to know it’s gonna be good, but to witness it firsthand was absolutely incredible. They got a round of applause after losing three different games this year, like you just don’t see that.”
The Valkyries had a historic first year in San Francisco, culminating in their inaugural head coach, Natalie Nakase, winning the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year award. Danna witnessed her high basketball IQ on a nightly basis.
“Natalie was awesome, she’s a hell of a coach, the whole world saw it this year,” he said.
It was an incredible year overall for the team, and Danna is excited to call their games for the foreseeable future.
Now that he’s working his dream job as a sports broadcaster, the next step for Danna is to cover the Olympics.
Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic Games, and calling the biggest spectacle in sports is his ultimate goal.
“It would be cool to do the Olympics one day, for sure, just because I’ve done 14 different sports,” Danna said. “I think I would be a good fit for the Olympics, hopefully in 2028.”
His passion for the game is stronger than ever, and at 38 years old, the sky is the limit for the young commentator.
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