Greg Papa will not be on the air for KNBR 680 AM in 2026, a jarring turn for one of the Bay Area’s most recognizable voices.
The station made a programming change that led to Papa being let go from his daily midday hosting role alongside his longtime partner. The move comes after station management enacted a major pivot, and it landed at a difficult moment for Papa, who has recently been recovering from a serious medical diagnosis that required extensive hospitalization.
Papa’s exit is drawing plenty of attention because of what he has meant to Bay Area sports radio for nearly four decades. He has been a fixture across the region’s biggest franchises, including a celebrated run as the radio voice of both the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers.
His résumé stretches well beyond football. Papa spent 21 years as the radio voice of the Oakland Raiders, where his signature “Touchdownnnnnnnnn Raiders!”
call became part of the soundtrack. In 2019, he took over as the play-by-play radio voice for the San Francisco 49ers.
Before that, he built a wide-ranging broadcasting career in the NBA, starting with the Indiana Pacers before moving to California to work as the radio announcer for the Golden State Warriors. He later called games for the San Antonio Spurs.
Papa also spent more than a decade as the television play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics and later called games for the San Francisco Giants.
For now, it is unclear what comes next for the cancer survivor after this latest shakeup in his career.
In Other News...
Kings Home Opener Change Just Altered The Feel At Golden 1 Center
The Kings 2026 home opener at Golden 1 Center is already taking on a different kind of feel after the league shuffled the schedule, switching Sacramento from a date with the Warriors to a visit from the Trail Blazers on Oct. 23. It is the sort of change that matters in a building like this, where the first home night of the season often carries as much edge and anticipation as any game on the calendar.
Golden State is no longer part of that opening-night scene, with the matchup pushed to 2027 and still set to come to Sacramento later in the season on March 10 and April 4. For now, the Kings are still slated to open the season against the Clippers unless anything else shifts, leaving one of the most familiar Northwest California storylines out of the early spotlight at Golden 1 Center. [Read more 🡒]
Russell Westbrook Just Ended Any Chance Of A Kings Reunion
Russell Westbrooks time with the Kings ended up being a one-season stop, but it left a real imprint on a young Sacramento locker room. He brought energy, experience and a level of professionalism that mattered for a team still trying to grow around its younger players, which is part of why the possibility of a reunion lingered as a reasonable thought for a while.
Westbrook is now closing the book on his NBA career, sharing his decision in a social media video that looked back on an 18-year run. For Sacramento, it removes any lingering speculation about whether there might be one more return to the Kings, and leaves the franchise to carry forward the impact he had without the chance of another chapter. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans Can Already See The Big Acuff LaVine Dilemma
The Kings decision to draft Darius Acuff Jr. in 2026 already points toward a familiar kind of conversation in Sacramento: who sets the tone when the game gets tight, and who is best used as a scorer rather than a creator. Acuff is being viewed as a player who can grow into the offenses main engine, with the kind of late-game responsibilities that used to belong to DeAaron Fox, while the rest of the roster has to be sorted around that idea.
Zach LaVine remains the tricky part of the equation because the Kings still have to decide how much of the offense should flow through him if Acuff is the long-term answer at the point of attack. There is already a sense that Sacramento may need to find the right balance quickly, and if the fit never fully clicks, the bigger question becomes whether LaVine is better suited as part of a contenders plan than this one. [Read more 🡒]