Menu
Media

Bay Area Turning Into Hotbed For National NBA Writers With Warriors' Recent Success

Oakland -- not N.Y. or L.A. -- has become the "basketball media capital of the world," as national NBA writers now do not just "swoop in for the night" to cover the Warriors, according to Bryan Curtis of THE RINGER. Now, national writers "swoop in and stay." Last season, the N.Y. Times had Scott Cacciola "abandon the Knicks and embed with the Warriors." This fall, Tim Bontemps, who covers the NBA for the Washington Post, moved to S.F. to use Oracle Arena as a "forward operating base." Bontemps said of the Warriors' offseason addition of F Kevin Durant, "It’s even going to be bigger than the Heat were.” The San Jose Mercury News' Anthony Slater, who covered the Thunder for The Oklahoman, was sent to Oakland this season, "following Durant" as ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst had "once followed LeBron James" to the Heat. Warriors Exec Board Member Jerry West said that the media crush is "far larger than the one that congregated" around the Lakers of the early '00s. CSN Bay Area's Ray Ratto said, "People are trying to guess if the Warriors are going to be the next great ratings grabber in American sports. ... ESPN is partially responsible for this because I think they, more than anybody else, invented the notion of the national name that must be covered every day." Curtis noted for years the Warriors beat was the "lowliest pro beat in the Bay Area" outside of maybe the Sharks. The Warriors press corps is also "shockingly young." ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes, 34, said, "I’m the old man.” Meanwhile, Curtis noted Warriors VP/Communications Raymond Ridder is "one of the handful of PR men in any sport who thinks his job is to help reporters rather than sabotage them." Ratto: “He’s one of the few guys who still views what he does as a service job." An anonymous national NBA reporter said, "All I have to do is email Raymond and say, ‘Steph for 15 minutes. If I’m willing to get on a plane to Oakland for the day, I’m going to have Steph for 15 minutes" (THERINGER.com, 12/5).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/12/07/Media/Covering-Warriors.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/12/07/Media/Covering-Warriors.aspx

CLOSE