A comprehensive ranking of the 31 best NBA writers out there
Ok, something to point out before I dive in is that this is a list of the 31 BEST NBA journalists currently working in my opinion. So however low they are on this list still means they are all wonderful and insightful journalists. Being low on this list is like being picked last in the All Star Game. Yes, you were last, but keeping the big picture in mind, you're still the cream of the crop.
Another point I'd like to make is that I did not include any beat writers in here, this is only a mix of feature, analysis and reporting on the national level. Not that I don't love the beat guys, but that would make this list way too long.
Lastly, before I start, I'd like to mention excellent writers such as JA Adande, Pablo Torre and Wright Thompson, three journalists who come to mind who have all written wonderful pieces throughout the years, but haven't worked on a story in a long time. Adande is the director of sports journalism at Northwestern and Torre makes tons of appearances on ESPN's video platforms, so their absence from the writing world is understandable. I can't say why Thompson isn't currently writing, but I can say he scribed a beautiful Pat Riley profile last year. If they still wrote, they'd all be on this list somewhere.
It's time, let's dig into the 31 best NBA journalists, in my humble opinion. One last reminder, these guys are all awesome.
31. Matt Moore, Action Network
Moore's almost (ok, definitely) maniacal love for the game bleeds through his extremely active Twitter presence and volume of columns he produces. He watches a ton of film, and also spends hours combing through stats. In his writing, he blends the two together to craft easily digestible pieces for readers. My favorite piece of his was last year, when he explained why Kawhi Leonard's defensive metrics were lacking. The piece displayed Moore's ability to understand that while advanced stats are useful, saying Kawhi Leonard stinks at defense is just plain wrong, and Moore easily backed that up with the tape.
30. Chris Herring, FiveThirtyEight
I gotta admit, I enjoyed Herring's pieces more at the Wall Street Journal. I still read every last one of his pieces at FiveThirtyEight, and he has some of the most unique story ideas in the business, such as which players don't get back on defense, why Jusuf Nurkic always gets hit in the face and why LeBron and Harden are the NBA's best QB's. He uses the treasure trove of numbers at his finger tips thanks to ESPN's Stats and Info team, but my one quibble is that his pieces become almost too numbers-heavy. I notice his awesome and hilarious Twitter personality, but his writing becomes very straight-forward without much humor and with too many statistics. I wish Herring did more stories like the one about players lying about their height. That was a classic. If you read this Chris, I still love you man. Just inject some of that humor into your writing!
29. Danny Chau, Ringer
Chau writes sparingly because his main job is to edit the Ringer's other NBA writers. Chau's intrigue for seemingly meaningless and obscure players is a joy to watch, such as his unabashed love for Mario Hezonja. He has a wonderful grasp of the language, and his writing flows beautifully. While some of my favorite Chau articles consist of his food deep-dives, his Ball family feature, the very first Ringer article, was fantastic. When I ran into Chau in LA, I asked him how he even got Lavar's phone number for the piece (this was before the Ball's were a household name). Chau laughed and said, "All I did was look it up online. Looking back, it's hilarious how easy it was. And he just picked up the phone." Chau is the youngest person on this list, and I'd say very few are better at crafting quality sentences together than him. He is a treat to read.
28. Jason Concepcion, Ringer
Concepcion is definitely the most hilarious writer here. His Twitter account, @netw3rk, is iconic and is one of the few that truly has me audibly laugh out loud because it's just too funny. While Concepcion's NBA writing has dialed back due to his Binge Mode and NBA Desktop duties, when he's on his game, it's like no other reading experience. Don't let his childish humor fool you, Concepcion is a damned smart basketball writer. He knows so much about the game he is able to educatedly roast the absolute hell out of anyone. As an open Knicks fan, Concepcion's running gag of referring to Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Ntlikina as his adult sons gets me every time, as does his relentless savageness directed toward Knicks management and Phil Jackson. The more Jason writes, the more I laugh. Keep it up my guy.
27. Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated
Golliver does less analysis these days since he's ramped up production of his excellent podcast with co-worker Andrew Sharp, where they make a lot of the same points they would have made in a column. As for his writing, Golliver has switched to doing more long-form features, such as his quality articles about the process behind Aaron Gordon's dunk contest, the Clippers' success with two-way contracts and Instagram as the NBA's social hub. I still love his analysis; he has a terse writing style that never drags, and he makes some nice points with a few witty jokes sprinkled in. Simply a quality NBA writer.
26. Tom Ziller, SB Nation
Ziller is a master NBA blogger. He writes daily, recapping all the games and storylines of the previous night. He's got an Onion-style writing flare to him, where he seriously makes fun of teams doing the completely wrong thing. Ziller makes some great points when he writes columns, and his writing never drags. You won't see many behemoth sized Ziller articles, and that's just the way he likes it. He's so smart he can make his points in only a couple paragraphs. I miss reading him lament about the Kings, and I'm pretty sure their consistent putridness forced Ziller to resign as a Kings fan, which is both depressing and funny as hell.
25. Brian Windhorst, ESPN
Windy would definitely be higher if he wrote more, but it seems he's on every ESPN affiliated NBA show and podcast so I can't blame the guy for not having enough time to write. He's a quality news-breaker, his most important story being the reason why the Cavs suspended JR Smith two hours before a game. Windhorst may be the most plugged in media man in the Cavs and Heat organizations. When he does write, it's usually short news pieces, but as we've seen with his book and LeBron columns throughout the years, the dude can write. Let him spread his wings more in that department, ESPN!
24. Kevin Pelton, ESPN
Pelton is the ultimate balancing act between quality and quantity. He may write more than anyone on this list, seeing as he grades every single trade (even meaningless deals which involve scrap players and protected 2nd round picks). Pelton pumps out wonderful analysis so frequently that someone should probably make sure he's not a robot. I do miss his Q and A's on ESPN's old message board, as that has now switched to a less enjoyable format. Pelton also developed WARP (Wins Above Replacement), a stat that shows how many wins a certain player is worth above a replacement level player. Pelton usually writes behind the much-maligned ESPN insider, and while I have found a way to crack the paywall, I suggest others who are hungry for voluminous amounts of quality NBA analysis cough up the dough.
23. Baxter Holmes, ESPN
Holmes, a recent Lakers beat writer, has transitioned wonderfully into a feature-writing role. His longforms on NBA players' love for Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and Wine were both so memorable, rich and fantastic. He has also started a monthly column predicting schedule losses for tired teams on the road, which been astonishingly accurate. Holmes is a classic quality over quantity guy, and his articles are always unique. Keep it up, Baxter.
22. Chris Haynes, ESPN
Haynes' ascendence through the writer ranks has been rapid, and well-deserved. He quickly went from Trailblazers beat writer to covering LeBron to covering the Warriors and the NBA nationally. It's been apparent Haynes has recently developed quality sources, since he broke the Gordon Hayward story and many other important NBA storylines. While most of Haynes' writing is strictly news, he has used his relationships with players to snag some awesome in-depth features. His features on Quincy Pondexter, Andre Iguadala's summer free agency and Steph Curry's leadership were all great works of writing. He has immensely improved his prose throughout the years, but my highlight will always be watching him score on Will Barton in an empty gym six years ago.
21. Paul Flannery, SB Nation
I miss Flannery's Sunday Shootaround. He ceased doing that this year and it's obvious he has transitioned into more of an editor and helping hand for some of SB Nation's younger scribes. But when Flannery does write, he makes excellent points very quickly. His pieces never bore, and he has such a breadth of knowledge about the game. His Rasual Butler obituary was the most touching I saw. Flannery also has a very measured approach to writing. He never grabs for headlines or flashy takes. I really appreciate his calm, nuanced writing style and it's clear many great writers respect him.
20. Chris Mannix, Yahoo Sports
Mannix handles a ton of other duties other than NBA writer. He's also Yahoo's boxing analyst as well as a sideline reporter and analysis for Celtics games. He's genuine, funny and cool. His relentless poking fun of Bobby Marks for the Brooklyn trade has me crying of laughter every time. He's had so many awesome Nets pick jokes, but my favorite is when earlier this year he was arguing on his podcast over which team would give up a 1st for DeAndre, and he immediately said, "You know who would give up a 1st, Bobby Marks!" He's one of the few writers who obtains direct quotes in his columns and he is very simple and direct with analysis. His columns never go on too long. He makes his point, then leaves the reader wanting more. Mannix usually has reactions to a big trade filed within a few hours, and they are always insightful and easily digestible.
19. Michael Lee, Yahoo Sports
Lee also obtains all his quotes first hand, like his co-worker Mannix. Lee writes wonderful features on basically every team and player in the league. My one quibble is he quotes players in lengthy blocks a little too much, but he does such a good job reporting and extracting so many good points from players and coaches that I can't blame him for using everything. He produces a healthy quantity of so many quality features. Simply a great NBA writer whose Finals coverage was dearly missed this past playoffs due to the birth of his kid! Hope fatherhood is treating you well!
18. Rob Mahoney, Sports Illustrated
Rob is one of the most beautiful NBA writers out there. He has such a strong command of the language to combine with his extensive knowledge of players and schemes. He watches a boatload of film and condenses all he has learned into wonderful pieces concerning a player's development curve or a team stretching its limits. His podcast, Breakaway, is also very different and unique from others. It's a nice change of pace. Rob distinguishes himself from others and that is rare since there are only so many points to make and so many ways to covey them.
17. Sam Amick, USA Today
Sam is such an underrated news breaker in today's NBA. He's like Woj with fewer sources but a better feature writer. His recent articles on the Jazz were ripe with commentary from prominent figures in the organization as well as simple prose to convey how good and resilient the franchise is. He clearly has built up quality relationships with a few people, such as Mike D'Antoni and Paul George, which has led to some awesome behind-the-scenes pieces concerning the two. Amick deserves more hype, since he's great.
16. Tom Haberstroh, Beacher Report
Tom is on a podcast seemingly every day, so that probably doesn't leave him too much time to write, but when he drops an article, it's a must-read. He has cornered the market on articles focusing on the importance of sports science and rest. He also predicted Isaiah Thomas' downfall after talking to tons of hip specialists. Tom is humorous and is very well respected around the league. His best accomplishment is definitely all the money he has raised for ALS. You rock Tom! Now go write another awesome 3,000 word article.
15. Andrew Sharp, Sports Illustrated
After Concepcion, Sharp is the funniest writer out here. His sneaky voice on his podcast with Golliver gets me every time and he knows so much about the game. Sharp is also an open Wizards fan and his rants on the state of the team every couple months is appointment reading. He also broke out in a huge way when he produced a legendary oral history of European players in the NBA earlier this season. His columns are a joy to read, especially since he's writes like a fan, and I love that. He's wonderful. Keep it up, Sharp!
14. Marc Spears, Undefeated
It's apparent that Spears has founded deep and personal relationships with some players, execs and their family members. His connections with DeMarcus Cousins, Scott Perry, Draymond Green, Vince Carter and countless others has produced some insanely terrific in-depth pieces. He's always finding out about some niche, then he goes on a tear writing an excellent feature on it. Most of Spears' work is centered around on what players do and think about outside the game of basketball, and his contributions are a wonderful change of pace. Some of his work includes Myles Turner's charitable endeavors, Dennis Smith's relationship with J Cole and Cristiano Felicio's rough upbringing. Spears is the only writer in the NBA who could produce a thousand word article about Fred Whitfield (the piece was great, by the way). He clearly views the NBA as more than just a game, and really gets to know guys and genuinely share their stories. He's also been a mentor to other up and coming journalists. Simply a unique, incredible journalist.
13. Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN
Woj is very difficult to grade. It's no state secret he is the best newsbreaker in all of sports. He has built so many relationships and is almost always first on a story and he is rarely ever wrong. However, most of his pieces consists of quick news stories. The majority of his work is breaking news on Twitter. However, he dabbles in feature writing and his story on the Cavs trade deadline is him at his best. And while he has been very supportive of young journalists and everybody loves and respects him, his actual feature writing can sometimes be very monotone. But he knows what he's phenomenal at, and that's breaking news, which he is by far the greatest. But this column focuses more on the best feature and analysis-focused writers, and Woj simply lacks in those areas. But he's the best newsbreaker, I love him, everybody loves him, so let's not forget that. Also, his Woj Pod brings on some killer guests.
12. Kevin O'Connor, Ringer
Kevin O'Bomber's love for the NBA is a joy to behold. He's so enthusiastic and has quickly developed some legit league sources, seeing as he broke the Isaiah Thomas trade. His analysis is always top-notch and he watches a ton of film and combs through the numbers. One of his deficiencies as a writer is sometimes using too many recycled quotes from players and coaches in his pieces, but he has recently cut down on that. He also doubles as the Ringer's draft analyst, so I'd bet he's devoting an enormous amount of time to writing and watching both NBA and college. And his jovial attitude makes me enjoy basketball even more. O'Bomber is also very young, and as older scribes fade away, he's going to be the premiere NBA writer someday. Also, he loves Dragon Ball Z, so I gotta love him.
11. Jonathan Tjarks, Ringer
Tjarks is one of the most quality NBA writers in the business. He's not flashy; he never uses fancy words or pretends to know something when he doesn't. You can tell he watches as much film as anybody, and his analysis is always spot on. He makes great points in every article he writes and is usually correct about predicting whether a player will develop into a star. He trusts his gut and runs with it. Feature writing is definitely not his strength, but he's a really cool guy and may just have the second best NBA analysis aside from the top person on this list. Tjarks is slept on, but I've read every single one of his quality articles the past few years, and I'm a smarter basketball reader because of it. My advice: read Tjarks. You'll love him.
10. Marc Stein, New York Times
Stein has such an excellent command of the language. His writing is soft as butter and he has gobs of great sources. His old power rankings at ESPN are dearly missed, but he still refers to himself as the Committee of One, which is adorable. His weekly newsletter is a must-read, and his measured and nuanced approach to writing is such a joy to behold.
9. David Aldridge, NBA.com
DA's massive Monday Morning Tip has everything a basketball fan wants. There is analysis on pressing NBA storylines, features on players and coaches, Q and A's with players, a reader mailbag, and team and MVP rankings. I wish it were all one big column, but these days it's spread out into five separate URL's, which is annoying, but that's not David's fault. Aldridge also doubles as a TNT sideline reporter, a role in which he is delightful at.
8. Ramona Shelburne, ESPN
Ramona is simply a wonderful feature writer, especially her insanely detailed Laker deep dives, where she very clearly has great relationships with Laker powerbrokers Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson and Linda Rambis. Shelburne is definitely the most plugged in media personality in Laker Land. She's a damned good reporter as well as stand-in host of the Jump and she's a tremendous writer. Every one of her articles should be devoured.
7. Jackie MacMullan, ESPN
Jackie Mac is a legendary NBA feature writer. Her recent deep dives on the Brooklyn Nets' Kenny Atkinson, Kyrie Irving and Pop and Kerr's relationship have been appointment reading. Everybody respects her and it's obvious how much time she spends on her features. They're rich in detail and her writing style is tremendous. Her features may be long, but there is never a dull moment. She is one of the few writers who still reveals juicy morsels of prevoiusly unknown information in her actual features, instead of on Twitter (which she doesn't have). Jackie Mac, a true legend.
6. Kevin Arvovitz, ESPN
Arnovitz has such a fantastic vocabulary and I'm so happy he has ramped up the frequency of his writing this year. In years past, he was maybe good for a dozen articles a year, but now he's churning out even more meticulously crafted masterpieces. Among some of my favorites was his longform on DeAmarcus Cousins last year, feature on ref Bill Kennedy and all his wonderful Grizzlies articles over the years. Arnovitz, Stein, Chau and Mahoney probably have the best grasp of the language out of all these writers. They craft beautiful sentences and have themes to their pieces. Arnovitz, an NPR veteran, is pure quality. Read him, I promise you will love every word.
5. Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated
This one may come as a surprise since Ballard seldom writes due to his duties as a journalism professor at Berkley. When he does get cracking though, hie pieces are works of art. Ballard has scribed some of the most memorable NBA articles through the years, such as his tragic Monty Williams piece, as well as Robert Swift and Sam Hinkie deep dives that showcase what a tremendous writer Ballard is. He never uses flashy language,, and he collects so much valuable information in his pieces. Even though he rarely writes, his features are distinct, heartbreaking and beautiful. He's underrated, but when he drops a feature on somebody, read it. There's a reason Ballard took the time to write about a particular person. I can't wait for his next piece.
4. Howard Beck, Bleacher Report
What up Beck? Well, what's up is you need to write more Howard! I love every one of your pieces, especially your recent Becky Bonner, Nikola Jokic and LeBron stories. Beck is such a fantastic writer. His analysis is always measured and he never spews hot takes just for the sake of spewing hot takes. He's been around the league for years, and is well respected by his peers. His appearances on the Lowe Post are great and he's simply a wonderful writer. Beck is a strict quality over quantity guy, since he averages only like an article a month, but when they are this good, I shouldn't mess with his groove. Beck is unassuming, and his writing is incredible.
3. Lee Jenkins, Sports Illustrated
The best feature writer in the NBA game. Jenkins was trusted with scribing LeBron's "I'm Coming Home" article. He has written wonderful articles on so many start players from James to Durant to Westbrook to Harden to Giannis to Jokic and so on. He reveals so many wonderful details and talks to the best people to serve as secondary sources. You truly get the whole scope of a player after Jenkins is done with him. A personal favorite of mine is that Jenkins always names the restaurant a player eats at when he is at a free agent meeting or something else. As a Los Angeles resident, it's cool to drive by these places and know players love eating there. Lee is the best. He's kind and always acknowledges his gratitude when countless people praise his articles on Twitter. Jenkins is a master feature writer. I love him.
2. Bill Simmons, Ringer
The podfather! While Simmons is clearly out of his writing prime, he is still hilarious, smart and surprisingly well-connected. His NBA knowledge and love of the game spans decades and he has also cultivated the careers of so many excellent writers such as Sharp, Concepcion, Chau, Tjarks and O'Connor. Simmons cracks me up in every one of his articles. I know it sounds simple, but I just enjoy reading his articles so much. He's a joy to read and I hope he keeps writing because he's still a phenomenal writer. PS: BRING BACK THE TRADE VALUE COLUMN SIMMONS
1. Zach Lowe, ESPN
I'll let Josh Levin of Slate take it from here.
Zach is simply the best. He's a triple threat: newsbreaker, superb analyst, and feature writer. The Ginobli piece over the summer was a work of art. I could write an entire column explaining why Zach is the best, but seriously, just read Josh's piece on him. PS: When I met Zach at summer league and told him he was the best NBA writer, he was very skittish and humble. I respect it, Zach.
Another point I'd like to make is that I did not include any beat writers in here, this is only a mix of feature, analysis and reporting on the national level. Not that I don't love the beat guys, but that would make this list way too long.
Lastly, before I start, I'd like to mention excellent writers such as JA Adande, Pablo Torre and Wright Thompson, three journalists who come to mind who have all written wonderful pieces throughout the years, but haven't worked on a story in a long time. Adande is the director of sports journalism at Northwestern and Torre makes tons of appearances on ESPN's video platforms, so their absence from the writing world is understandable. I can't say why Thompson isn't currently writing, but I can say he scribed a beautiful Pat Riley profile last year. If they still wrote, they'd all be on this list somewhere.
It's time, let's dig into the 31 best NBA journalists, in my humble opinion. One last reminder, these guys are all awesome.
31. Matt Moore, Action Network
Moore's almost (ok, definitely) maniacal love for the game bleeds through his extremely active Twitter presence and volume of columns he produces. He watches a ton of film, and also spends hours combing through stats. In his writing, he blends the two together to craft easily digestible pieces for readers. My favorite piece of his was last year, when he explained why Kawhi Leonard's defensive metrics were lacking. The piece displayed Moore's ability to understand that while advanced stats are useful, saying Kawhi Leonard stinks at defense is just plain wrong, and Moore easily backed that up with the tape.
30. Chris Herring, FiveThirtyEight
I gotta admit, I enjoyed Herring's pieces more at the Wall Street Journal. I still read every last one of his pieces at FiveThirtyEight, and he has some of the most unique story ideas in the business, such as which players don't get back on defense, why Jusuf Nurkic always gets hit in the face and why LeBron and Harden are the NBA's best QB's. He uses the treasure trove of numbers at his finger tips thanks to ESPN's Stats and Info team, but my one quibble is that his pieces become almost too numbers-heavy. I notice his awesome and hilarious Twitter personality, but his writing becomes very straight-forward without much humor and with too many statistics. I wish Herring did more stories like the one about players lying about their height. That was a classic. If you read this Chris, I still love you man. Just inject some of that humor into your writing!
29. Danny Chau, Ringer
Chau writes sparingly because his main job is to edit the Ringer's other NBA writers. Chau's intrigue for seemingly meaningless and obscure players is a joy to watch, such as his unabashed love for Mario Hezonja. He has a wonderful grasp of the language, and his writing flows beautifully. While some of my favorite Chau articles consist of his food deep-dives, his Ball family feature, the very first Ringer article, was fantastic. When I ran into Chau in LA, I asked him how he even got Lavar's phone number for the piece (this was before the Ball's were a household name). Chau laughed and said, "All I did was look it up online. Looking back, it's hilarious how easy it was. And he just picked up the phone." Chau is the youngest person on this list, and I'd say very few are better at crafting quality sentences together than him. He is a treat to read.
28. Jason Concepcion, Ringer
Concepcion is definitely the most hilarious writer here. His Twitter account, @netw3rk, is iconic and is one of the few that truly has me audibly laugh out loud because it's just too funny. While Concepcion's NBA writing has dialed back due to his Binge Mode and NBA Desktop duties, when he's on his game, it's like no other reading experience. Don't let his childish humor fool you, Concepcion is a damned smart basketball writer. He knows so much about the game he is able to educatedly roast the absolute hell out of anyone. As an open Knicks fan, Concepcion's running gag of referring to Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Ntlikina as his adult sons gets me every time, as does his relentless savageness directed toward Knicks management and Phil Jackson. The more Jason writes, the more I laugh. Keep it up my guy.
27. Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated
Golliver does less analysis these days since he's ramped up production of his excellent podcast with co-worker Andrew Sharp, where they make a lot of the same points they would have made in a column. As for his writing, Golliver has switched to doing more long-form features, such as his quality articles about the process behind Aaron Gordon's dunk contest, the Clippers' success with two-way contracts and Instagram as the NBA's social hub. I still love his analysis; he has a terse writing style that never drags, and he makes some nice points with a few witty jokes sprinkled in. Simply a quality NBA writer.
26. Tom Ziller, SB Nation
Ziller is a master NBA blogger. He writes daily, recapping all the games and storylines of the previous night. He's got an Onion-style writing flare to him, where he seriously makes fun of teams doing the completely wrong thing. Ziller makes some great points when he writes columns, and his writing never drags. You won't see many behemoth sized Ziller articles, and that's just the way he likes it. He's so smart he can make his points in only a couple paragraphs. I miss reading him lament about the Kings, and I'm pretty sure their consistent putridness forced Ziller to resign as a Kings fan, which is both depressing and funny as hell.
25. Brian Windhorst, ESPN
Windy would definitely be higher if he wrote more, but it seems he's on every ESPN affiliated NBA show and podcast so I can't blame the guy for not having enough time to write. He's a quality news-breaker, his most important story being the reason why the Cavs suspended JR Smith two hours before a game. Windhorst may be the most plugged in media man in the Cavs and Heat organizations. When he does write, it's usually short news pieces, but as we've seen with his book and LeBron columns throughout the years, the dude can write. Let him spread his wings more in that department, ESPN!
24. Kevin Pelton, ESPN
Pelton is the ultimate balancing act between quality and quantity. He may write more than anyone on this list, seeing as he grades every single trade (even meaningless deals which involve scrap players and protected 2nd round picks). Pelton pumps out wonderful analysis so frequently that someone should probably make sure he's not a robot. I do miss his Q and A's on ESPN's old message board, as that has now switched to a less enjoyable format. Pelton also developed WARP (Wins Above Replacement), a stat that shows how many wins a certain player is worth above a replacement level player. Pelton usually writes behind the much-maligned ESPN insider, and while I have found a way to crack the paywall, I suggest others who are hungry for voluminous amounts of quality NBA analysis cough up the dough.
23. Baxter Holmes, ESPN
Holmes, a recent Lakers beat writer, has transitioned wonderfully into a feature-writing role. His longforms on NBA players' love for Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and Wine were both so memorable, rich and fantastic. He has also started a monthly column predicting schedule losses for tired teams on the road, which been astonishingly accurate. Holmes is a classic quality over quantity guy, and his articles are always unique. Keep it up, Baxter.
22. Chris Haynes, ESPN
Haynes' ascendence through the writer ranks has been rapid, and well-deserved. He quickly went from Trailblazers beat writer to covering LeBron to covering the Warriors and the NBA nationally. It's been apparent Haynes has recently developed quality sources, since he broke the Gordon Hayward story and many other important NBA storylines. While most of Haynes' writing is strictly news, he has used his relationships with players to snag some awesome in-depth features. His features on Quincy Pondexter, Andre Iguadala's summer free agency and Steph Curry's leadership were all great works of writing. He has immensely improved his prose throughout the years, but my highlight will always be watching him score on Will Barton in an empty gym six years ago.
21. Paul Flannery, SB Nation
I miss Flannery's Sunday Shootaround. He ceased doing that this year and it's obvious he has transitioned into more of an editor and helping hand for some of SB Nation's younger scribes. But when Flannery does write, he makes excellent points very quickly. His pieces never bore, and he has such a breadth of knowledge about the game. His Rasual Butler obituary was the most touching I saw. Flannery also has a very measured approach to writing. He never grabs for headlines or flashy takes. I really appreciate his calm, nuanced writing style and it's clear many great writers respect him.
20. Chris Mannix, Yahoo Sports
Mannix handles a ton of other duties other than NBA writer. He's also Yahoo's boxing analyst as well as a sideline reporter and analysis for Celtics games. He's genuine, funny and cool. His relentless poking fun of Bobby Marks for the Brooklyn trade has me crying of laughter every time. He's had so many awesome Nets pick jokes, but my favorite is when earlier this year he was arguing on his podcast over which team would give up a 1st for DeAndre, and he immediately said, "You know who would give up a 1st, Bobby Marks!" He's one of the few writers who obtains direct quotes in his columns and he is very simple and direct with analysis. His columns never go on too long. He makes his point, then leaves the reader wanting more. Mannix usually has reactions to a big trade filed within a few hours, and they are always insightful and easily digestible.
19. Michael Lee, Yahoo Sports
Lee also obtains all his quotes first hand, like his co-worker Mannix. Lee writes wonderful features on basically every team and player in the league. My one quibble is he quotes players in lengthy blocks a little too much, but he does such a good job reporting and extracting so many good points from players and coaches that I can't blame him for using everything. He produces a healthy quantity of so many quality features. Simply a great NBA writer whose Finals coverage was dearly missed this past playoffs due to the birth of his kid! Hope fatherhood is treating you well!
18. Rob Mahoney, Sports Illustrated
Rob is one of the most beautiful NBA writers out there. He has such a strong command of the language to combine with his extensive knowledge of players and schemes. He watches a boatload of film and condenses all he has learned into wonderful pieces concerning a player's development curve or a team stretching its limits. His podcast, Breakaway, is also very different and unique from others. It's a nice change of pace. Rob distinguishes himself from others and that is rare since there are only so many points to make and so many ways to covey them.
17. Sam Amick, USA Today
Sam is such an underrated news breaker in today's NBA. He's like Woj with fewer sources but a better feature writer. His recent articles on the Jazz were ripe with commentary from prominent figures in the organization as well as simple prose to convey how good and resilient the franchise is. He clearly has built up quality relationships with a few people, such as Mike D'Antoni and Paul George, which has led to some awesome behind-the-scenes pieces concerning the two. Amick deserves more hype, since he's great.
16. Tom Haberstroh, Beacher Report
Tom is on a podcast seemingly every day, so that probably doesn't leave him too much time to write, but when he drops an article, it's a must-read. He has cornered the market on articles focusing on the importance of sports science and rest. He also predicted Isaiah Thomas' downfall after talking to tons of hip specialists. Tom is humorous and is very well respected around the league. His best accomplishment is definitely all the money he has raised for ALS. You rock Tom! Now go write another awesome 3,000 word article.
15. Andrew Sharp, Sports Illustrated
After Concepcion, Sharp is the funniest writer out here. His sneaky voice on his podcast with Golliver gets me every time and he knows so much about the game. Sharp is also an open Wizards fan and his rants on the state of the team every couple months is appointment reading. He also broke out in a huge way when he produced a legendary oral history of European players in the NBA earlier this season. His columns are a joy to read, especially since he's writes like a fan, and I love that. He's wonderful. Keep it up, Sharp!
14. Marc Spears, Undefeated
It's apparent that Spears has founded deep and personal relationships with some players, execs and their family members. His connections with DeMarcus Cousins, Scott Perry, Draymond Green, Vince Carter and countless others has produced some insanely terrific in-depth pieces. He's always finding out about some niche, then he goes on a tear writing an excellent feature on it. Most of Spears' work is centered around on what players do and think about outside the game of basketball, and his contributions are a wonderful change of pace. Some of his work includes Myles Turner's charitable endeavors, Dennis Smith's relationship with J Cole and Cristiano Felicio's rough upbringing. Spears is the only writer in the NBA who could produce a thousand word article about Fred Whitfield (the piece was great, by the way). He clearly views the NBA as more than just a game, and really gets to know guys and genuinely share their stories. He's also been a mentor to other up and coming journalists. Simply a unique, incredible journalist.
13. Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN
Woj is very difficult to grade. It's no state secret he is the best newsbreaker in all of sports. He has built so many relationships and is almost always first on a story and he is rarely ever wrong. However, most of his pieces consists of quick news stories. The majority of his work is breaking news on Twitter. However, he dabbles in feature writing and his story on the Cavs trade deadline is him at his best. And while he has been very supportive of young journalists and everybody loves and respects him, his actual feature writing can sometimes be very monotone. But he knows what he's phenomenal at, and that's breaking news, which he is by far the greatest. But this column focuses more on the best feature and analysis-focused writers, and Woj simply lacks in those areas. But he's the best newsbreaker, I love him, everybody loves him, so let's not forget that. Also, his Woj Pod brings on some killer guests.
12. Kevin O'Connor, Ringer
Kevin O'Bomber's love for the NBA is a joy to behold. He's so enthusiastic and has quickly developed some legit league sources, seeing as he broke the Isaiah Thomas trade. His analysis is always top-notch and he watches a ton of film and combs through the numbers. One of his deficiencies as a writer is sometimes using too many recycled quotes from players and coaches in his pieces, but he has recently cut down on that. He also doubles as the Ringer's draft analyst, so I'd bet he's devoting an enormous amount of time to writing and watching both NBA and college. And his jovial attitude makes me enjoy basketball even more. O'Bomber is also very young, and as older scribes fade away, he's going to be the premiere NBA writer someday. Also, he loves Dragon Ball Z, so I gotta love him.
11. Jonathan Tjarks, Ringer
Tjarks is one of the most quality NBA writers in the business. He's not flashy; he never uses fancy words or pretends to know something when he doesn't. You can tell he watches as much film as anybody, and his analysis is always spot on. He makes great points in every article he writes and is usually correct about predicting whether a player will develop into a star. He trusts his gut and runs with it. Feature writing is definitely not his strength, but he's a really cool guy and may just have the second best NBA analysis aside from the top person on this list. Tjarks is slept on, but I've read every single one of his quality articles the past few years, and I'm a smarter basketball reader because of it. My advice: read Tjarks. You'll love him.
10. Marc Stein, New York Times
Stein has such an excellent command of the language. His writing is soft as butter and he has gobs of great sources. His old power rankings at ESPN are dearly missed, but he still refers to himself as the Committee of One, which is adorable. His weekly newsletter is a must-read, and his measured and nuanced approach to writing is such a joy to behold.
9. David Aldridge, NBA.com
DA's massive Monday Morning Tip has everything a basketball fan wants. There is analysis on pressing NBA storylines, features on players and coaches, Q and A's with players, a reader mailbag, and team and MVP rankings. I wish it were all one big column, but these days it's spread out into five separate URL's, which is annoying, but that's not David's fault. Aldridge also doubles as a TNT sideline reporter, a role in which he is delightful at.
8. Ramona Shelburne, ESPN
Ramona is simply a wonderful feature writer, especially her insanely detailed Laker deep dives, where she very clearly has great relationships with Laker powerbrokers Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson and Linda Rambis. Shelburne is definitely the most plugged in media personality in Laker Land. She's a damned good reporter as well as stand-in host of the Jump and she's a tremendous writer. Every one of her articles should be devoured.
7. Jackie MacMullan, ESPN
Jackie Mac is a legendary NBA feature writer. Her recent deep dives on the Brooklyn Nets' Kenny Atkinson, Kyrie Irving and Pop and Kerr's relationship have been appointment reading. Everybody respects her and it's obvious how much time she spends on her features. They're rich in detail and her writing style is tremendous. Her features may be long, but there is never a dull moment. She is one of the few writers who still reveals juicy morsels of prevoiusly unknown information in her actual features, instead of on Twitter (which she doesn't have). Jackie Mac, a true legend.
6. Kevin Arvovitz, ESPN
Arnovitz has such a fantastic vocabulary and I'm so happy he has ramped up the frequency of his writing this year. In years past, he was maybe good for a dozen articles a year, but now he's churning out even more meticulously crafted masterpieces. Among some of my favorites was his longform on DeAmarcus Cousins last year, feature on ref Bill Kennedy and all his wonderful Grizzlies articles over the years. Arnovitz, Stein, Chau and Mahoney probably have the best grasp of the language out of all these writers. They craft beautiful sentences and have themes to their pieces. Arnovitz, an NPR veteran, is pure quality. Read him, I promise you will love every word.
5. Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated
This one may come as a surprise since Ballard seldom writes due to his duties as a journalism professor at Berkley. When he does get cracking though, hie pieces are works of art. Ballard has scribed some of the most memorable NBA articles through the years, such as his tragic Monty Williams piece, as well as Robert Swift and Sam Hinkie deep dives that showcase what a tremendous writer Ballard is. He never uses flashy language,, and he collects so much valuable information in his pieces. Even though he rarely writes, his features are distinct, heartbreaking and beautiful. He's underrated, but when he drops a feature on somebody, read it. There's a reason Ballard took the time to write about a particular person. I can't wait for his next piece.
4. Howard Beck, Bleacher Report
What up Beck? Well, what's up is you need to write more Howard! I love every one of your pieces, especially your recent Becky Bonner, Nikola Jokic and LeBron stories. Beck is such a fantastic writer. His analysis is always measured and he never spews hot takes just for the sake of spewing hot takes. He's been around the league for years, and is well respected by his peers. His appearances on the Lowe Post are great and he's simply a wonderful writer. Beck is a strict quality over quantity guy, since he averages only like an article a month, but when they are this good, I shouldn't mess with his groove. Beck is unassuming, and his writing is incredible.
3. Lee Jenkins, Sports Illustrated
The best feature writer in the NBA game. Jenkins was trusted with scribing LeBron's "I'm Coming Home" article. He has written wonderful articles on so many start players from James to Durant to Westbrook to Harden to Giannis to Jokic and so on. He reveals so many wonderful details and talks to the best people to serve as secondary sources. You truly get the whole scope of a player after Jenkins is done with him. A personal favorite of mine is that Jenkins always names the restaurant a player eats at when he is at a free agent meeting or something else. As a Los Angeles resident, it's cool to drive by these places and know players love eating there. Lee is the best. He's kind and always acknowledges his gratitude when countless people praise his articles on Twitter. Jenkins is a master feature writer. I love him.
2. Bill Simmons, Ringer
The podfather! While Simmons is clearly out of his writing prime, he is still hilarious, smart and surprisingly well-connected. His NBA knowledge and love of the game spans decades and he has also cultivated the careers of so many excellent writers such as Sharp, Concepcion, Chau, Tjarks and O'Connor. Simmons cracks me up in every one of his articles. I know it sounds simple, but I just enjoy reading his articles so much. He's a joy to read and I hope he keeps writing because he's still a phenomenal writer. PS: BRING BACK THE TRADE VALUE COLUMN SIMMONS
1. Zach Lowe, ESPN
I'll let Josh Levin of Slate take it from here.
Zach is simply the best. He's a triple threat: newsbreaker, superb analyst, and feature writer. The Ginobli piece over the summer was a work of art. I could write an entire column explaining why Zach is the best, but seriously, just read Josh's piece on him. PS: When I met Zach at summer league and told him he was the best NBA writer, he was very skittish and humble. I respect it, Zach.
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