JOSÉ PAÑEDA
SPANISH RADIO & TV BROADCASTER

José Pañeda, the Spanish Voice (“La Voz”) of the Miami HEAT, enters his 20th season as the team’s Spanish language radio play-by-play announcer, broadcasting all Miami HEAT games this season on Univision Radio’s WQBA-1140 AM and WAQI-710 AM. An original HEAT employee, Pañeda is in his 21st year with the team.

In 1998, Pañeda made HEAT history as he broadcast the first ever Miami HEAT game on Spanish language television. In 2002, Pañeda once again made history by becoming the first NBA broadcaster ever to reach and announce 1,000 consecutive regular season games in Spanish. Pañeda has now broadcast 1,526 consecutive regular season games and all 106 playoff games in HEAT history which includes the 2006 NBA Championship.

In addition to his HEAT duties, Pañeda has been the Spanish language radio voice at the NBA Finals nine times, which have been broadcast in the United States and internationally through several networks including the NBA on ESPN Spanish Radio Network. Pañeda is also a veteran of 11 Spanish broadcasts of the NBA All-Star game.

In 1998, Pañeda was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the five fastest speaking announcers in the NBA.

For two consecutive summers, Pañeda was the host and play-by-play announcer for WNBA games broadcast on Gems Television to 21 countries in Latin America. In the summer of 1999, Pañeda was the play-by-play voice of basketball on Univision’s network coverage of the Pan American Games. Pañeda has also broadcast NBA games to TV viewers in most of Latin America through TNT Latino and provided play-by-play commentary for Fox Sports America. In 1992, Pañeda was the television color commentator at the Olympic qualifying Tournament of the Americas on Univision. He has also worked on English radio and television in Miami.

As Senior Advisor, Hispanic Broadcasting & Marketing, Pañeda is responsible for serving as the HEAT’s spokesperson in the Hispanic community and advising the HEAT Group with their efforts. This includes creating and implementing different plans to assist the Marketing, Public Relations, and Community Affairs departments. This is in addition to overseeing the Spanish radio and television broadcasts.

Born and raised in Miami, Pañeda is a graduate of Belen Jesuit Prep High School and Florida International University (’86). In 2008, Pañeda, a high school baseball and soccer letterman, was inducted into the Belen Jesuit High School Sports Hall of Fame with the first ever Lifetime Achievement award for his broadcast achievements. Pañeda and his wife, Ana, are the parents of twin boys, José Carlos and Alexander Eduardo. The Pañeda family resides in Miami and enjoys fishing in the Keys.