TAKEAWAY: A good storyteller can create interest for any story, including subjects for which the audience initially may not have any curiosity. Meet Brian Windhorst, the writer whose beat is LeBron James.
He covers LeBron James for ESPN. But that may be an understatement.
He is the ultimate authority on the famous athlete. He has covered LeBron since the star was 14 years old. Ask any question about LeBron James, and he answers it quickly, methodically and with the self assurance that only comes from deep knowledge of your subject matter. He has co-authored two biographies of LeBron.
Meet Brian Windhorst. You can call him “Scoop”, as do most who know him. I had the pleasure to meet him recently in New York City over a great Italian dinner.
I knew little about Brian prior to that dinner, only that he is a best friend to one of my good friends, Jon Wile, with whom we work on the American City Business Journals project. Jon thought that Brian and I would click on the subject of frequent flying, aircraft configurations and all things related to life in that George Clooney fast lane as depicted in Up in the Air.
However, our conversation of that evening had little to do with aviation and more to do with Brian’s dream job: covering LeBron James.
Let me confess at the start that I do not follow basketball, and know only the basics about the gifted basketball player, even though I am aware that he is royalty in my hometown of Miami. The prospects of spending a night discussing LeBron would have sent me running for the next yellow taxi outside on 46th Street.
And that is the point of this blog post. Brian Windhorst is such a gifted storyteller that he managed to fascinate us with his stories about LeBron.
LeBron the child (not an easy childhood, became a foster child to a family who loved him), LeBron as the discovered genius of the game (he and his mother negotiating the confusing and seducing waters of big time recruiters), LeBron on the court (a selfless player), LeBron off the court (a more complicated, sometimes moody individual), Lebron’s next big thing (reportedly his wedding to the mother of his two boys and the girl he took to the senior prom).
The Brian-LeBron relationship takes both of the men back to their home state of Ohio. It is a relationship made in some kind of journalistic heaven, and I can even imagine a future screenplay based on it. Brian attended high school in Akron, Ohio at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School, the same school that LeBron would later attend. Brian began covering LeBron during his high school playing career, and began covering the Cavaliers in 2003, the year that LeBron was drafted. While LeBron was the youngest player in the NBA, Brian was the youngest traveling NBA beat writer.
“He trusts me, he knows that I will tell the story as it is,” Brian says of LeBron. “He is not my friend. He is the subject I cover.”
That is what storytelling is about.
It is not about the content, after all. A good storyteller can make even the most uninteresting subject have its own sparkle. It is not about the platform either.
Teachers of speech and English composition have reminded us—- starting in middle school—-about having a first hand knowledge of the subject of the story. With that weapon in hand, the rest is easy.
I now have an interest in LeBron James. Who knows? Maybe I will venture to Miami one of these days to see him play.
All because a gifted storyteller made me interested, curious and engaged.
Two questions for Brian Windhorst
Mario:
As the expert on LeBron James, what is the most frequent question you answer about this mega star of basketball?
The most common question I get from people about LeBron is one that you presented as well, a form of “what is he really like?” I’ve gotten used to answering that question but it’s also a challenge in what is done in everyday reporting. While his performance, the analysis of his performance and the general “what it all means” stuff is the majority of my job, I am constantly challenged to provide insight into him for readers.
Mario:
What is the one thing you feel your readers wish to know about their hero LeBron James?
What readers and/or viewers truly value is what they can’t read, see or perceive on their own. That’s why that sometimes simply setting what otherwise would be a private scene or explaining the background. For example, when he won this latest title, giving context to what had just happened: http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-130620/daily-dime
Two books about LeBron James
The Franchise: LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers
Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst, (2007). T. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59851-028-7
LeBron James: The Making of an MVP
Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst, (2009) Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59851-059-1
WAN IFRA: 6th Tablet & App Summit
October 7-8, Berlin
I am honored to be part of this program in which I will conduct about four different presentations dealing with storytelling across platforms, tablet edition design, the media quartet and the importance of design in today’s multi platform world.
There are still some places left for those wishing to attend the WAN IFRA 6th Tablet & App Summit.
Overview of the event:
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/6th-tablet-app-summit
Program overview:
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/6th-tablet-app-summit?view=sessions
Mario Garcia’s presentation:
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/speakers/mario-garcia-1