I am incredibly excited to announce that I’ve joined The Sporting Tribune as the host of a new LA Clippers podcast. The show will include pre and postgame analysis from myself and an exciting group of guests, along with weekly podcast episodes. This is the most important season in Clippers franchise history, so there will be plenty to talk about.
Having covered the Clippers as a writer for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation site, which I will continue to do, I’ve developed a deeper passion not only for the team, but the way they’re represented. This is primarily what the show will be about. The national media has consistently done a poor job covering the Clippers, and as someone who will be around the team almost every day, I’m excited to clean that up.
For those who have followed me for a long time, you may know my story. For those who have not, here’s a little background on how I became connected to the Clippers and their fanbase.
Every Clippers fan has an origin story that explains how they ended up falling in love with the team. Whether it was a team or player from the Sports Arena days, the Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson duo, the gritty 2006 team, the unparalleled excitement of Lob City, or the underdog group that bridged that era to the current one, each fan has their moment or group that got them hooked.
For myself, I was introduced to the team in one of the more unique ways possible. In the summer of 2010, the Clippers signed free agent forward Brian Cook, who happened to be a close family friend of mine. A baseball fan and player at that time, I did not watch much NBA basketball outside of the playoffs. When Cook signed with the Clippers, I began tuning into games. As previously mentioned, this was the 2010-11 season, which happened to be Blake Griffin’s rookie year.
Still the last rookie to make an All-Star team, Blake had a historically great rookie campaign; however, it was his style of play that got me hooked. The nightly poster dunks and lob finishes were something I’d never witnessed in sports before, and I immediately became a diehard fan of Blake and the Clippers.
Fast forward to 2018, I’m still a fan, and I’m beginning to gain interest in sports media. The Lob City era had officially ended, but the Clippers had a fun team with Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, and a rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Doc Rivers was still at the helm, and consistently started Avery Bradley over Shai. It was egregious to anyone who closely followed the team, myself included. No longer content complaining from the couch, I decided to start a Clippers Instagram page to voice my thoughts.
The page quickly grew, and generated additional writing opportunities with different blogs. I wrote for several blogs from 2019-2021, generating as much content as I could while finishing my degree. During my senior year of college, I received an opportunity to join Sports Illustrated as a writer for their AllClippers FanNation site, which is how I became a credentialed media member.
During my time in college, I served as Biola University’s play-by-by announcer for their Basketball, Baseball, Softball, and Soccer teams. While I have always loved written analysis, and still do, breaking down sports over a microphone is my primary passion. The opportunity to do that for The Sporting Tribune, covering the team I grew up watching, and have covered as a writer for years, is one I cannot wait to begin.
