Paul began his broadcasting career in 1985 following his eleven year stint as an Olympic athlete, culminating with a Gold Medal at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles in Volleyball. Since that time Sunderland has built one of the most successful and versatile careers in sports broadcasting. Paul worked extensively in his sport and also basketball in the early years. Eventually he was hired by ESPN to cover Pac-10 basketball. Based on that, Paul was subsequently hired by NBC to do a myriad of sports including their coverage of the NBA, WNBA and a variety of Olympic sports.
Paul has covered every Summer Games since 1992. Later, Paul expanded his activities to the studio where he served as an anchor of Fox Sports Net’s version of Sports Center. In 2000 he made history by becoming just the second Play x Play announcer in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul continued in this role until 2005. For his work covering the Lakers, he was twice recognized with Emmy Awards. Since 2005, Paul has returned to covering Pac-10/12 Basketball, Volleyball and Track and Field for Fox Sports Net as well as a multitude of other activities for NBC and Universal Sports.