Brian Windhorst wants to stay at ESPN. He also wants Amazon and NBC to hire some damn reporters.
Windhorst told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch there have been “no negotiations” on a new deal with ESPN, but he’d like to stick around in Bristol. That doesn’t mean he’s ruling out other opportunities, but if it’s up to him, he stays.
If it’s up to him, Amazon and NBC also make a few smarter hires. Not necessarily of him, but of people like him.
“I say this completely in self-interest, I’m gonna be totally transparent,” Windhorst said on Sports Media with Richard Deitsch. “I hope Amazon and NBC hire some reporters. Because I’m watching all these people that they’re hiring, and they’re hiring all these [former players]. Blake Griffin and Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki and Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade. That’s awesome. I have a relationship with all these guys. I love them.”
He’s not wrong. Amazon and NBC have loaded up on ex-players and, in NBC’s case, even dipped into front office waters by hiring a former Hawks exec. But they haven’t found a Brian Windhorst. Or really, any reporter.
Windhorst thinks that’s a mistake.
To be clear, he’s not out to displace former players. He gets the appeal. He’s not trying to be Charles Barkley. But he doesn’t think Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith should have to do every game either.
“I understand that there’s nothing comparable to coming off a big game, or coming to halftime, and hearing what Charles Barkley has to say. And that’s not ever gonna get replaced,” Windhorst said. “But, Barkley and Shaq and Kenny can’t do every game.”
He also shouted out Cassidy Hubbarth, who left ESPN for Prime Video’s NBA coverage, as someone who brings valuable reporting chops. She’ll be joined by Allie Clifton and Kristina Pink, two more sideline reporters who know how to deliver actual context.
Windhorst knows how this comes off. Of course, the guy without a playing career is the one asking for more reporters. He’s not saying players don’t belong on these shows. He’s saying they shouldn’t be the only ones.
And in Windhorst’s view, the best shows aren’t wall-to-wall ex-players swapping stories. They’ve got a reporter who can dig, an exec who can explain the why, and a player who’s been through it. That’s how you get somewhere.
“The golden triangle that I have noticed, that some of the best TV that has been done, and again…is a reporter that knows the league to give context to what’s going on, an active or former executive, because so much that the NBA does now is strategy based, and then having a former player or coach,” Windhorst says.
The question is, will Amazon or NBC get that? Or will they keep chasing star power and hoping that’s enough?