Media Circus: Chiney Ogwumike balances her media and WNBA ambitions (2024)

Of all the new ESPN Radio programming that debuts today — highlighted by a new morning show (6-10 a.m. ET) featuring Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams, and longtime SportsCenter host Zubin Mehenti and the return of Mike Greenberg to radio (noon to 2 p.m. ET) — the most interesting new show was the pairing of two-time WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike with ESPN Radio veteran Mike Golic Jr. from 4-7 p.m. ET.

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That show is unique in many ways. It remains all too rare to see a Black woman fronting a national sports-talk show featuring their opinions as opposed to moderating between two (usually) male voices. The ages of the hosts are also an asset. The pairing feels current (Golic is 30 and Ogwumike is 28), and the two have worked together previously and have great on-air chemistry.

In major metro markets such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia or Chicago, national sports radio networks such as ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, CBS Sports etc. have little chance head-to-head against local sports-talk in the important morning drive and afternoon drive spots. But they can have a major impact in the on-demand space such as podcasts as well as in small cities. Audio remains an important medium for reach as well.

I wrote last month that I thought not finding a new spot on ESPN Radio for Mike Golic Sr. was a significant misstep given his name recognition and relatability to that audience for multiple decades. It was also a perplexing decision to reduce “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” by an hour given its popularity. But I believe the pairing of Ogwumike and Golic Jr. was inspired casting and a show to watch. I recently had a long conversation with Ogwumike on her new job, her plans for professional basketball in the future, and a number of other topics.

Ideally, in your mind, what will this ESPN Radio show be?

Our goal is to refresh and reinvent what people expect radio to be. I love Golic Jr. We built our chemistry at 4 and 5 a.m. You don’t wake up and do work unless you love that person. I’ve been really welcomed by his family and learned from them. When you think about basketball, you’re told your strengths and weaknesses, and you’re told to work on your weaknesses. I sort of apply that same mindset to broadcasting. I’m a naturally curious person. So in the mornings, I found this great chemistry with Golic Jr. and he comes from a tremendous family. They (the Golics) and Trey Wingo brightened my day.

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So this show, clearly we’re young and we’ve been given an opportunity that we’re extremely grateful for. But the commonality between us is that we worked our butts off. A lot of times people in TV wait a long time to get that golden opportunity. I think we saw this platform as something that we could really build on, reach people, and hopefully unite people because sports is what brings everyone together. Our show will be super energetic. We’ll be able to have fun. But at the same time he’s Notre Dame and I’m Stanford so I’m going to flex on him in that regard and I know he’s ready to flex on me. We both come from dynamic families, well-accomplished families. We’ve learned from our elders like literally my sister, who is killing it on the court and as the president of the WNBA players’ union. His father is a Hall of Fame radio host. So we have learned from them but I think we are ready to step into our shoes and step into our own voices and hopefully voice our perspectives for this rising generation. I know it’s all rooted in love but also love of sport and love of each other. We cannot look any different, Golic and myself, but I think we have a lot in common and we hope to share that with each listener. So we’re nontraditional, we’re young, we’re millennials. But at the same time, we will be prepared, we will work hard, and we will entertain.

Why have we not seen more women of color in on-air positions where they are offering sports opinions as opposed to being a moderator between two men who offer sports opinions?

The reason why I am so grateful for this role and the reason why I wake up and do a lot of the things that maybe the Hall of Famer NBA player would not do, like wake up and do the 7 a.m. ET “SportsCenter” or 1 a.m. ET radio spot, is because women and Black women in particular have a chip on their shoulder that we have to prove that we’re worthy of a voice when it comes to opinion. I’m very fortunate that my experience as an athlete has allowed me to enter those doors at an early stage. I’ve had a lot of mentors and role models that have given me confidence so when I look to my left and see a Scottie Pippen, or look to my right and see a Tracy McGrady, I know that I am just as valuable in my voice and I should exude that confidence. I know I would not be here without the Doris Burkes of the world and the countless women at ESPN who have helped me. They opened their souls to me so that I would not struggle as they sometimes struggled.

I think we also have the added pressure of being the beacon of opportunity for others. This opportunity is important because by doing it, a producer or a coordinating producer can literally say, well, she’s doing really well so let’s expand our perspective on who else can do this. I know it’s happening. It happened when I called games for the Pac 12 Network and next thing you know there’s multiple WNBA players the year after doing the same. I’ve seen it work. I think that’s the model. Unfortunately, we have to prove more than anyone else that we can do it before those doors open. Hopefully, that’ll change. It’s tough to have to constantly deal with it but it’s a challenge I accept.

Take me through the process of just how the job came about?

My plan was to be a basketball player. I believe ball is life and I wanted to max out on that. I’ve had some bumps in the road with my injury and that sort of shifted my trajectory to what I can do. Most pro players play 24/7, including my sister (Nneka, a star player for the Los Angeles Sparks). So when I had my two injuries, I started saying yes to a lot of broadcasting opportunities just because I was grateful to get them. Whether it is this radio job or being an NBA analyst or even calling a women’s college basketball game, I never thought or expected that the role would be mine because I’m young and learning the game of broadcasting. When I made the hard decision to opt out (of the WNBA this year), I think luck is where preparation meets opportunity. I made a really tough decision to sit out the season because of my injury history, not knowing that the opportunity around the corner was something that would be so tremendous where I could use my voice, something that really matters where I can share my thoughts and my perspective and really be the representation that I know needs to exist. Pressing pause on hoops opened the door for something that is really remarkable for me to have at the age of 28.

I’ve been grinding in the dark hoping that my hard work will come to light. I was waking up at 3 a.m. to go and do radio with Golic Jr., doing four or five segments for SportsCenter, staying late while also training for basketball. So (ESPN vice president of talent strategy, negotiation, and recruitment) Rob Savinelli reached out to me and my agent, Allison Galer, and said there is an opportunity here (ESPN Radio) with potential. The way this one happened was that after my WNBA decision, I think ESPN saw it as an opportunity to use me and elevate me. It was something that we had discussed for a while, not specific to this role, but like how much can we use Chiney in her free time. I haven’t had a home is the best way to describe it. We’ve been talking for months on how can we create an opportunity for possibility because I’m the type of person that would fly to New York or fly to the game site. I’m young and grateful for these opportunities. So pressing pause on basketball I think opened ESPN’s eyes to find a home for me. One thing I’ve learned about this business is consistency and development leads to growth. And now I have a home.

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What’s the most important thing you’ve learned so far about doing daily radio?

I have to be Chiney. I have to be real.

I’ve started off my career as an analyst and anchor where I was delivering the news or breaking down a game with my flavor on it. Maybe I’d host radio during the wintertime when everyone was out. I guess the biggest thing I’ve learned is you have to be authentically yourself. I come from a very strong family where we try to do the best we can at everything we do. I’m a perfectionist but I also realize that this business perfection is overrated. Authenticity matters. On radio, you are literally there for hours, so the best way to be successful is by relating to your listener. I’m going to open up. I’m going to have to be vulnerable. I’m not going to be able to hide behind stats and numbers and facts and figures. I’m going to have to explain my perspective and the perspective of other people that I know. I have to play myself. But I look forward to it because I think we’re at a point in society where we can we can all sort of look at each other in a different way, especially now, and relate instead of using it to divide. I’m willing to let my hair down and just be me and have fun with that and trust that I have a teammate that will have fun with me.

So the number one thing is vulnerability, but also authenticity. I think I’m finally at a place of peace where I feel comfortable as a black woman, one who is Stanford-educated, loves her family, works her tail off, and knows herself. People may not know me or know how to say my name, but they’re going to get to know me and I love that challenges and opportunity. It’s going to get real and I’m excited to see how it goes.

You are just 28 years old and you are doing a job where if things go well, it’s a full-time, year-round job. You may not work 365 days a year but there’s an expectation that you are available to be on the air. How do you navigate that with whatever athletic interests remain for you?

I think ESPN has been remarkable in meeting me where I am and that’s the day to day process. It’s sort of an experiment. By being a current WNBA player, they seen the value of that, like the value of being in locker rooms and me being able to tell my teammates why don’t you hop on my next show. Or being at events with Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell and having those relationships where you can say, hey, why don’t you come on air? I think they’re looking at it as a glass-half-full, not a glass-half-empty. They’re being creative. I know even for this role, they were trying creatively to figure out how we can make it happen. I think based on my decision to opt out of playing this year, the path was easy. In the future, the path may not be so easy, but they’ve really been great with me and open-minded.

One of the craziest days from last season was when I played against Chicago last June. I was scheduled to be on air for ESPN (they have a studio across the street from Staples Center) about 45 minutes after coach Derek Fisher finished our locker room speech. This was a free agency special. These are my two worlds colliding. How am I going to get both done? It was also an autograph day after the game. So I was signing autographs with my sister as they (ESPN officials) were calling me about the big moves for free agency. I sprinted across the street, had 10 minutes for hair and makeup, and then I’m on air talking about it. So they were willing to be flexible while I was playing and to give me opportunities. I think they understand it is a day by day and year by year process but they’re excited about it because it’s sort of uncharted waters. They know my joy for sports.

To be clear: Your desire is to remain a professional athlete, good health willing?

Yes. I’m currently training and rehabbing right now. I will continue to train and rehab. But ESPN is making a huge commitment to me so it’s a different dynamic. I think we’re good. I’ll work through it. I’ve been focused on August 17, to get this thing rolling and then we’ll see what happens later on.

Let’s say two years from now you’re back at your athletic peak and you’re one of the preeminent players in the WNBA. Would you have interest in creating a unique position where you are an active WNBA player who also serves as a broadcaster for your league?

Absolutely. I am all about my league because literally my sister is in the league and we spent months negotiating, in a global pandemic, hoping that play would come to fruition. After the first game I called Nneka and I was like, “Nneka, how did it feel to play?” I don’t know if you noticed but pretty much all the members of the WNBPA leadership committee have balled out. I think they are so relieved to have the peace of mind to play basketball. Elizabeth Williams, Nneka, Sue Bird, they have all been fantastic. I am training and doing my rehab and working with so many groups at ESPN who see that I’m available so they are using me for storytelling or coming to me for points of view or features. By me being available, I have passion to tell our stories because of the access to me. So in the future, I think the goal is to be a vessel or create opportunities for other players whether it’s me doing it or me coordinating it or me producing it. That’s the goal.

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What would you do regarding Kelly Loffler (the U.S. Senator who co-owns of The Atlanta Dream who has repeatedly derided the WNBA for dedicating its season to the Black Lives Matter movement) if you had a position of authority in the league, a position like your sister has, or even a really powerful voice publicly in the league like Sue Bird?

As you asked this question I started to think about my experience — a Nigerian-American, a black woman, born and raised in Cypress Texas. I was usually the only person of color in the room growing up. I was also raised in a family where education was really important and valued. So if I were in power, I always come from the lens of looking for an opportunity to educate, to educate each other on where our perspectives are. I would love that opportunity because I know there are players who believe this does not meet the standards of our league. It doesn’t reflect necessarily the full sentiment of our players. I’ve dealt and encountered racism when I played in high school. My angle has always been we need to help educate and have these uncomfortable conversations and educate others instead of being on other sides of the room and screaming our points of view. If we can meet in the middle and have good conversations and then you choose to ignore that, that’s your choice. Then we react accordingly.

So when it comes to her, I wish that some people understood our perspective or understand that we have a hand out to educate instead of just ignoring and using us in the moment. That’s where I always stand. In every encounter I’ve had I’ve moved past emotion and just said, “Are you willing to educate? Are you courageous enough to do that?” Because there’s a bigger opportunity around the corner where we can admit our shortcomings as humans and move forward. I do think as women we are stronger together, period. I think the WNBA has been a league that has put out that message, and I hope that people start seeing that message as the most important overall.

The Ink Report

1. Kevin Harlan said calling games in the NBA bubble has felt more normal than he expected. You will hear no complaints from Harlan on the broadcast setup in Orlando given the effort by many to setup Turner Sports and ESPN inside the arena.

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“I can’t begin any conversation without total appreciation and admiration for the job the NBA and TNT did in setting this up,” Harlan said. “It’s remarkable how they constructed all of this from scratch and made it seem as normal as possible given the new arena setting and safety dynamics for health protocol. From our broadcast booth set-up to camera operations, to the microphones that capture the sounds of the game, to the lighting, these professionals have our limitless respect.”

I asked Harlan on Sunday to describe the experience of calling games in the bubble specific to where his broadcast setup was, the lack of crowd in the arena, and social distancing between him and his partner. He is calling games roughly 20-30 rows behind the court as opposed to being courtside.

“As broadcasters, we aren’t hindered greatly; it’s rather the nuance of doing a game that perhaps only we notice,” Harlan said. “Capturing the rhythm of a play is diluted a bit being off the floor. The quick glance of a substitution that we made when on the floor, we now are relearning or retraining our eye to catch from a different angle. Rarely do we rely on jersey numbers, or less, names on jerseys for identifying players. If for whatever reason there is a congested segment in a game, you see their face when courtside clearly. We ID players more on face and body type than jerseys.”

“Now, being well off the floor and with a new, deeper angle, there may be a little more hesitation as opposed to the quick recognition that we have when courtside,” Harlan continued. “The view of the bench, a coach arguing a call or a bench conversation among players, things away from the action that are easily seen when we are on the court, are a bit more challenging from where we are now. And the lack of real fan noise and presence has affected a big play call. We use that wonderful roar as a symphony to fill in the end of a significant play. We often play off that sound. That is absent. Even the moments when you want a little pocket of space in the broadcast are gone with no crowd. We use those sounds as another member of our broadcast crew, but now with no crowd, there is a silence that doesn’t frame a broadcast and a game the way it did before.

“As for our analyst, the thin plexiglass that separates us is hardly noticeable. It’s as if you’re in a phone booth and still able to communicate with someone in the phone booth next to you because you hear so well with the headsets and see them clearly, less than an arms-length away. The plexiglass in front of us in our little cubicle is not as big an issue as I thought it might be with voice bounce back and view clarity. As a side note, in a regular NBA world, there are now many local RSN’s and team radio broadcasters that have been taken off the floor and positioned up a level where we are now as teams are now selling those valuable locations on the floor to fans. I have a new appreciation for their challenges when broadcasting from that higher location. They have my respect for broadcasting each game that way.”

I asked Harlan what broadcast moderations (small or large) he would advocate for when he returns to call games in the second round.

“I know just to pull this off has been historic with a lot of creative and outside the box thinking,” Harlan said. “So I wouldn’t want to sound as if I’m complaining. None of us do. Being closer would be welcomed obviously. But I think I speak for all when I say that we miss the interaction in person with coaches and players and team staff. There are different levels of access and quarantine. Some reporters have access, some don’t. We Zoom meet or conference call with coaches before games, which is helpful. But it’s the side conversations with assistant coaches and players or reporters and local broadcasters on the floor pregame that fill in our notebooks before a broadcast that are valuable. Those face to face interactions are missed.

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“I’m not sure what else can be done that hasn’t been thought of, but there is an endless effort by the League and broadcast partners to make each broadcast and game presentation better. I really believe that they have added or tweaked something every day. They never settle. They are operating in an uncharted situation, and I, along with the other broadcasters, applaud and thank them for what they’ve accomplished. It may be their finest hour.”

1a. The NBA playoffs begin this week with ESPN and ABC airing up to 44 NBA playoffs game telecasts (including up to 18 first-round games) and TNT televising more than 40 games. ESPN will air the Eastern Conference Finals and ABC will broadcast the NBA Finals. Turner has the Western Conference Finals. Here are the Turner and ESPN broadcast schedules for the first four days of the NBA playoffs:

1b. TNT will use four new commentator teams during the first round of the NBA playoffs including Brian Anderson-Chris Webber; Spero Dedes-Stan Van Gundy, Bob Fitzgerald-Jim Jackson, and Joel Meyers-Greg Anthony.

2. Check out these photos from Harry Scull Jr. of The Buffalo News and Minneapolis Star Tribune photographer Aaron Lavinsky.

3. As part of my latest Sports Media Podcast — James Andrew Miller, the best-selling author of books on CAA, ESPN and Saturday Night Live and NBC NHL studio analyst Anson Carter are the guests — I had a long discussion with Miller on the impact of former co-head of television for CAA sports Nick Khan leaving CAA to take the job as president & chief revenue officer of WWE, and the broader look of where the current salary structure is heading for sports television talents on TV. “There are always going to be people making a certain amount of money but if you look back three or four years ago, there was a good chunk of people making several million dollars a year and I don’t think that is going to happen,” Miller said. “I think it’s not so much losing the middle class but losing the upper class. There are going to be fewer Stephen A. Smith’s. I think people who have these contracts of two, three, four million (annually) are going to see significant hits.”

What Miller said tracks with what I have heard from agents — term, and specifically long term contracts, will be casualties of the new salary landscape for sports broadcast talent. (There will always be exceptions when it comes to high-end talents such as Tony Romo or someone an outlet believes significantly increases the value of a property.) Within this ecosystem, you’ll be seeing more on-air people from so-called traditional sports media outlets taking jobs at newer digital players as Deion Sanders did last week when he left the NFL Network for Barstool Sports. The New York Post had a detailed and interesting look at Sanders leaving the NFL Network after NFLN management, based on the Post’s reporting, asked Sanders to cut his seven-figure salary in half. (Personally, I don’t think Sanders moves the needle on sports content.)

It will be the same for current and former athletes. For instance, The Ringer recently added CC Sabathia to its podcast network and already has J.J. Redick. What I anticipate heading forward will be name talents from ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, NBC Sports and others taking jobs at places you might not expect as the pot at those traditional outlets gets smaller.

3a. There are between 150-175 people working on “Hard Knocks” this year, including 30 staffers based at the Rams facilities in Thousand Oaks, Calif. and 30 with the Chargers in Costa Mesa, Calif. That includes a safety officer who rotates between both camps to check on safety protocols. The onsite crews arrived on July 24 and will stay until Sept. 7. “Hard Knocks” usually rotates its staff midway through each shoot but the California crews will not change this year given COVID-19 protocols. All staff working on “Hard Knocks” at the camps are wearing personal protective equipment and contact-tracing bracelets. It is the first time “Hard Knocks” is featuring two teams. Last week, I looked at how the show is being put together this year.

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3b. Per Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily, the premiere episode of “Hard Knocks” averaged 273,000 viewers on TV, the lowest-known figure for an episode of the show. Last year’s first episode averaged 705,000 on TV.

3c. Sportico’s Anthony Crupi examined the potential financial losses for networks airing college football.

3d. Univision and TUDN’s broadcast of Bayern Munich’s Champions League drubbing of Barcelona averaged 1.36 million total viewers, the most-watched Champions League quarterfinal all-time in the U.S. and the third highest-rated soccer match in 2020 on any network regardless of language behind Univision telecasts of UNAM-America (March 6) and Chivas-America (July 16). The Man City-Lyon match on Saturday drew 1.18 million total viewers

4. Sports pieces of note:

The Athletic’s Christian Caple on Mike Yam departing the Pac-12 Network.
I had Covid-19 and these are things nobody tells you. By Bill Plaschke of the LA Times.
Bayern 8, Barcelona 2. The End. By Rory Smith of the New York Times.
Via Rick Maese of The Washington Post: Big Ten cities, a fall without college football is a crushing economic blow.
After an academic science career proves elusive, an engineer follows his obsession and covers fantasy-sports full-time for a national network. By Te-Ping Chen of The Wall Street Journal.
Remembering James “Sugar Bear” Harris, the working man from Senatobia, Mississippi, who traveled the world as the “Ugandan Giant,” a terror from African fantasy. By Oliver Lee Bateman of The Ringer.
The boy who inspired athletes and rallied a city. By Brittany Ghiroli and Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
Black collegiate gymnasts describe culture of racism, isolation. By David Hale, D’Arcy Maine and Alex Scarborough of ESPN.

Non-sports pieces of note

A not-surprising story that should infuriate you. Rapid testing is the new velvet rope. By Alyson Krueger of the New York Times.
How the Go-Go’s found their beat. By Keaton Bell for Vogue.
The Furious Hunt for the MAGA Bomber. By Garrett M. Graff of Wired.
St. Ignatius Students, Alumni Speak Out About Racism On Campus Again — But Will Anyone Listen This Time? By Siri Chilukuri of Block Club Chicago.
Alphabet bet big in Toronto. Toronto didn’t play along. By Brian J. Barth for Medium.
Where Has Your Tween Been During The Pandemic? On This Gaming Site. By Kellen Browning of the New York Times.
A student set out to document the experiences of his Black classmates on their predominantly white campus. These are some of their stories. Photographs by Adraint Bereal and interviews by Patrice Peck.
Trying to Make It Big Online? Getting Signed Isn’t Everything. By Taylor Lorenz.
Crime-Scene Photos Are Lizzie Borden’s Legacy. By Lindsey Fitzharris of The Wall Street Journal.

(Photo of Chiney Ogwumike with Robert Horry: Allison Farrand / NBAE via Getty Images)