Being fully in the NBA world, where it is a constantly churning ecosystem of players and general managers and agents, and knowing who to call, when there are contracts you can ignore, when money is crazy — learning all that stuff and how this very intricate organization works has been fascinating to me.
Do you know Ava Wallace? I really hope you do. She covers the Wizards, Mystics, international tennis, went to the Tokyo Olympics, and still manages to pick up on and write about overarching news and trends in the league and sports world at large, and does it all with an ease and tenacity that, like when chatting with her, carries you smartly and securely along with her.
We talked about what it was like to start covering a team from afar, and how she gradually got closer to the people she talked to every day over Zoom when pandemic access restrictions were gradually lifted by the NBA. We also talked about the things Zoom, and tiered media access, gave and took, in reporting and general human niceties.
Plus: Balance — does it exist? Being a woman and covering sports — family stuff, it’s really different. Fortitude — how does a person like Bradley Beal keep mentally and professionally buying into what has been, until very recently, a losing situation? The Wizards — it’s okay to be hopeful. Russell Westbrook as benevolent veteran — yes, it’s true! Ava’s dream story — don’t steal it, it’s so specific that we’ll know that you did.
(PS. I hope you like the doubled-up audio in parts of this episode that make it sound like I’m underwater in a pool with you, playing that game where we yell things to each other and guess what the other person is saying.)
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