Full disclosure: it’s 8:04 in the morning my time and I’ve been up all night working on a presentation, so I won’t be able to do anything resembling justice to Brian Windhorst at the current moment.
Anyways, Brian Windhorst, along with Michael Wallace, Kevin Arnovitz (who, in the interest of fuller disclosure, has been my editor and immediate boss within the TrueHoop Network, and Sebastian Martinez-Christensen), will be covering the Miami Heat next season as a part of ESPN.com’s “Heat Index” next season.
If you’ve followed the Cavaliers at all over the past several seasons, Brian Windhorst needs no introduction. He has established himself as one of the best and hardest-working beat writers in the country. His coverage of the Cavaliers has been even-handed, intelligent, and impossibly diligent. This man broke the Mo Williams trade while returning from the hospital. He will be dearly missed by Cleveland fans, but I’m certainly happy that Brian got this opportunity and wish him all the best in this endeavor.
Given ESPN’s role in “The Decision,” I can see how the launching of the “Heat Index” might not be the most welcome news around these parts, but I’ll say two quick things:
1. The interest in this Heat team is absolutely overwhelming. I can tell you that articles that mentioned LeBron or the Heat absolutely dominated all other articles in terms of comments over on NBC all summer long. Most articles get 1-5 comments; when LeBron says something, it’s not uncommon for 40-50 people to chime in. That’s admittedly an imperfect measure of interest, but I’m of the opinion that ESPN is reacting to a demand for news here rather than creating said demand.
2. I can tell you that this website will be good. We all know what Windhorst can do and how good he is at what he does. It would be impossible for me to overstate my opinion of Kevin Arnovitz. To put things simply, they would not be participating in this project and moving from Los Angeles/Cleveland to Miami if they didn’t believe in the project. If they are involved in a project, it will be both well-written and of a high journalistic standard.
I can also tell you that ESPN’s basketball section is extremely well-run. I’ve worked for a lot of websites, both big and small. From my experience, I can tell you that everyone I have had contact with at ESPN genuinely cares about the quality of the product they put out, journalistic ethics, and the well-being of the writers that work for them. My experience with ESPN has been an absolute highlight of my career, for reasons that have nothing to do with the exposure they have given me. Henry Abbott, Kevin Arnovitz, and the higher-ups in the basketball section care about what they do, what they write, and the people that write for them. I know that for a fact. Trust me, I am far too sleep-deprived to shill.
This is bad news for Cavalier fans who have gotten used to reading Mr. Windhorst’s coverage of the team over the course of his career. But it’s good news for him, and great news for everyone who will be looking for great coverage of one of the most fascinating and polarizing basketball teams in recent memory. Once again, congratulations and good wishes to Brian and Kevin.
You should take over as Cavs beat writer.
sad day for cavs fans. brian was one of the best and will be missed.
It will be disappointing to have Brian no longer covering the Cavs, I’ve gotten use to him and with all the other changes in the organization, it would have been nice to have some consistency on coverage.
ESPN is doing a lot of LeBron/Heat based articles now. And yes I get it, if LeBron is mentioned the article will get a ton more comments etc. This new heat kind of remind me of the Bad-Boy Pistons on steroids. They draw so much attention and ‘hate’ it will be interesting to see how they embrace that image. I haven’t seen anyone/any team in professional sports move from Hero to Villan so quickly (outside of professional wrestling and not counting former athletes ala O.J.).
“You should take over as Cavs beat writer.”
I agree.
Interesting. If you know: are they going to do anything jointly with Hot Hot Hoops, or will it be totally separate?
Whoever the Plain Dealer gets to replace Brian Windhorst will have very, very large shoes to fill. Best of luck to him (and seriously, even if it’s not remotely feasible, I’d love to see you as the PD’s Cavs beat writer.
Ugh, for purely selfish reasons, this suuuuuucks. Not being able to read Windhorst’s recaps is seriously going to decrease my enjoyment of the Cavs this year and in the future. I was actually looking forward to reading him this year because the commentary will be a lot more interesting than “hey, LeBron is really good and he won that game for the Cavs.”
And in the bigger picture, this marks another decrease in the interest for Cleveland Cavaliers basketball. It’s doubtful that the PD will replace Windhorst with someone that can write at his level since the demand isn’t going to be quite in the years to come.
And Krolik at the PD would be awesome, but I’d imagine he’s too used to the awesomeness that is California.
First #6, now Windhorst. What’s next, Pluto?
how about the Cleveland Orchestra? http://clevelandorchestramiami.com/
I never thought Windy was a great writer, but he was an unbelievable beat reporter. What he lacked in creative chops he more than made up for in fair, honest coverage with concise recaps and thoughtful commentary.
God damn it, now what am I going to compulsively check every five minutes instead of PDCavsinsider?
@jim – know the feeling, i mostly checked in here to make sure krolik wasn’t jumping ship to make the exodus complete
Ugh. F that.
Just another reason this season will be less interesting.
Way to bend over for your corporate masters, Krolik.
In all seriousness, I will miss windy, and would totally do the same thing in his shoes.
One of my go-to retorts for friends from other cities all summer has been, “At least we still have the best beat writer in basketball.”
Damn.
Windy was a good writer but his pandering to be Lebrons Mouth Piece is borderline embarrasing. Even in the release from ESPN today it said nothing of his writing skills, but only that he is an authority on Lebron James….pretty sorry thats what your career will now be boiled down to windy
Damn that pandering sportswriter trying to get close to his subject. You think stories break themselves?
Barf. Windy is rewarded for 6 years of fluffing LeBron.
As for this site, are you even covering the Cavs any more? No coverage of the Wine and Gold game? You should give up the blog to someone else John.
Brian Windhorst loves LeBron more than food. That’s saying quite a lot.
Windy is on WTAM 1100 right now with Bob Frantz.
Wow, the people who called in really let him have it from their emotions. People are so ridiculous. The guy writes for a living and was offered a national writing job. Give it up already. I wish people would hold their fucking politicians accountable like they are roasting this guy. Unreal.
Indeed, where is your Cavs coverage? Training camp started, first pre-season game tomorrow…
wfny, stepienrules, and fearthesword do not cover hoops as well but at least they’re producing material these days.
Step up for us.
R — I hear your concerns. School is very tough (graduating early), and LSATs are on Saturday. Things should get a bit less crazy for me starting next week.
John, I’m also taking the LSAT this Saturday. Spent the last 2 months prepping and can’t wait to get this over with. Good luck, and where will you be applying if you score where you expect to?
this Heat coverage is downright embarrassing…and ESPN has lost all credibility by going full throttle…its gonna ruin the league and people won’t know it till it hits em. if it wasnt for Lebron Windhorst wouldnt have the career he has now…he’s covered James since 98-99….so of course ESPN will grab him since he knows more than anyone else…its a solid career move by Windy but its funny to think that without a single player a sports beatwriter really has no career…if you think about it…Im pretty sure Mary Schmitt Boyer who collaborated with Windy a few times over the years will replace him. She’s alright but hopefully Pluto can step in time and again to offer some insight…
Krolik, why oh why are you going to law school? It’s where creativity and talent go to die. Having just graduated, I can assure you that there are far better places to take your talents (read: anywhere). Please, I don’t want to have to be reading your quirky, sometimes comma-laden prose in some opposing brief someday. It just wouldn’t be right.
If you really want to go and want some advice (I promise I won’t just berate your decision), send me an email.
@John: LSAT’s aren’t as scary as they make it seem. Get back to writing some blogs on the Cavs asap!!
Law school? Are you at all aware what the legal market is like right now? Best of luck with the LSAT. Holler if you have any questions about the application process.
LSAT = easy time.
Anyway, I find it kind of sad that Windhorst is packing up and moving all to follow a single human being, and one that isn’t a part of his actual life. Ahh well.
If he were going to write for SI or something, this wouldn’t feel as salty. We should be happy for Brian, but…
he’s going to cover the HEAT for ESPN. He’s going to cover our new nemesis and cover it for the network that broadcast the Decision. #justsaying
He’s taking his talents to South Beach. Personally, I wish for more solidarity. Everyone deserves their decisions I suppose.
John, sometimes I think your lack of coverage and detachment to the Exodus would be easier to take if you weren’t the Cavaliers’ representation on ESPN’s blogroll. If you’re going to represent, represent!
You have no real idea of what it’s like to put in even a couple of months as an NBA beat writer.
No real idea of what it’s like to try to report on the most pampered, walled-off superstar in American professional sports.
And now Krolik’s not dancing fast enough for you, either?
What a bunch of jagoffs.
I think people have the right to assume that there’s not going to be anything at all journalistically sound about the “Heat Index” post-Decision. ESPN has gone into business with LeBron, which means Windhorst is for all intents and purposes becoming a colleague of LeBron’s. (And notice there was no “Cavs Index” during the 2-year stretch when the Cavs had the best record in the league.)
Hmm…
Covering LeBron in high school leads him to a higher-paying job with more exposure with the PD. The covering him in Cleveland leads to a higher-paying job with espn.com., where he’ll be covering Lebron and seemingly only have room to cover LeBron only.
Seems like he needs LeBron to succeed in order for his career to thrive.
Hmmm…
If something happened that would lower LBJ’s value, his readership would suffer, ergo his career. So it makes me wonder if he was really covering the team, or the cash cow he’s now directly milking. Was it really “not the right supporting cast,” or was it just a selfish player who wanted all the credit. Given that most players’ stats went down after joining him, there’s an argument.
Now on his new job, I question if he’ll be more cherry-picked with his reporting than Fox News is with Andrew Breitbart’s edited footage.
Well, congrats, Turtle – I mean, Brian. Skip Bayless should be very proud of that way you emulated his coat-tailing of the 1990s Cowboys.