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).
