Kevin Durant has recently talked about one of the most entertaining topics around the NBA: insiders and how they get their info before anyone else. NBA fans have created their own show when draft night, free agency, or the trade deadline happens, trying to see who is the first insider to break the news and who is the one breaking the juicy.
One of the most important is Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, who has been doing this for some time now, having a meteoric rise since he started linking up with people inside the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls organizations. A lot has happened since that moment and Shams is probably one of the hottest names in the game alongside ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who happened to be Shams’ mentor on Yahoo! Sports.
He’s been surprising everybody with his job and even one of the best players on the planet, Kevin Durant, is in awe with the work he’s done in recent years. Earlier this week, Durant spoke on his “The ETCs” podcast, hilariously describing how he believes Charania gets his info, comparing him to the CIA.
Via Uproxx:
“Shams a creep, yo! I remember Shams — Shams now, you never know where he is, yo, cause you can wear a mask now. This motherf*cker’s probably outside the house. But Shams, I don’t know how he gets this info, but he, I mean, he said I was in the car with no mask and we went back-and-forth, back-and-forth, and I was like, sh*t.
…
“That’s some crazy news to break, Shams. That’s crazy news to break, man, when you’ve been doing the Draft for the last 5 years. He goes smack to the White House. … He’s some type of Central Intelligence, bro. He’s got something at the crib, gadgets. His basement is full of sh*t. This man is locked in, with all respect.”
That should explain how the young reporter gets his scoops, right? But it’s more than that. Last year, he was interviewed by SLAM Online, explaining he values the relationship he has with agents, executives, and more.
“This is the same number I’ve had since I’ve started,” Shams states. “This number has a meaning to me. These relationships have a meaning to me.”
He goes on to talk about his contacts and how they intertwine with his daily schedule. He points out that much of the news he breaks is the result of the relationships he started building when he was 17 years old.
“Everyone I communicate with is this ongoing dialogue,” he explains. “So every day, you continue the conversations you’ve had the previous day, and then you build on that. It’s all about keeping in touch.” “This is the same number I’ve had since I’ve started,” Shams states. “This number has a meaning to me. These relationships have a meaning to me.”
He goes on to talk about his contacts and how they intertwine with his daily schedule. He points out that much of the news he breaks is the result of the relationships he started building when he was 17 years old.
“Everyone I communicate with is this ongoing dialogue,” he explains. “So every day, you continue the conversations you’ve had the previous day, and then you build on that. It’s all about keeping in touch.”
It took a lot of time but it paid off for this man. He’s well connected, he’s very respected in the business. Imagine how great you have to be for an NBA player like Kevin Durant to give you props the way he did.
