Ballard, Lowe, McMenamin, Weitzman, Windhorst, Wojnarowksi win in 2017 PBWA Blumenthal Memorial Writing Contest

Chris Ballard, Zach Lowe, Dave McMenamin, Yaron Weitzman, Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski have been named first-place winners in the 2017 PBWA Blumenthal Memorial Writing Contest, which honors the best work by Professional Basketball Writers Association members during the 2017 calendar year.

Ballard, of Sports Illustrated, won the Magazine-length Features category for his gut-wrenching profile of Monty Williams, whose wife, Ingrid, died in February 2016 in an auto accident. The category honors pieces of 2,500 words or longer.

Lowe and Windhorst, both of ESPN.com, received first-place honors in the Moderate-length Features Category for their co-bylined article about the Milwaukee Bucks’ muddled ownership situation. The category honors pieces under 2,500 words.

McMenamin, of ESPN.com, won the Breaking News category for his story about LeBron James’ reaction to persistent criticism by TNT studio analyst and former NBA superstar Charles Barkley.

Weitzman, of Bleacher Report, won the Game Stories category for his account of Isaiah Thomas’ performance in the Boston Celtics’ victory over the Washington Wizards in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Wojnarowski, formerly of The Vertical, won the Columns category for a piece about former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause following Krause’s death.

Four independent judges, all with experience as sports editors at major publications, evaluated the entries — one judge per category. The authors’ names and the names of the authors’ news outlets were redacted before the judges received the entries.

PBWA members submitted a record high number of pieces in this contest.

The competition is named after Dan Blumenthal, who worked as the organization’s secretary-treasurer from 1980 through 1983.

During the 2017 calendar year, the PBWA had approximately 210 writers and editors who covered the NBA on a regular basis for newspapers, online outlets and magazines.

Results of the 2017 PBWA Blumenthal Memorial Writing Contest

Breaking News

1st place: Dave McMenamin, ESPN.com, “LeBron James rips Charles Barkley: You’re the NBA bad boy, not me”

Judge’s comment: This story has all the boxes checked off to make it the best of 2017 in the Breaking News category: two NBA superstars — one still playing and the other retired — mixing it up and going at one another; the NBA’s current greatest player venting on the record exclusively to this publication’s representative; a well-developed story collected over time, thanks to the reporter building trust with LeBron James; controversy created by Charles Barkley, a former superstar-turned TV analyst, who pulls no punches when going after James; and, perhaps most importantly, a well-written, nicely presented story. The reporter even took one more wonderful step forward by reaching Dwyane Wade for reaction to LeBron’s comments about Barkley. It was something many reporters probably wouldn’t think to do, but it brought the story to the next level.

2nd place: Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic, “Grizzlies minority owners exercise buy-sell option, adding more uncertainty to a reeling franchise”

Judge’s comment: This is a really interesting story on the NBA’s Memphis franchise, which was once characterized as a gritty battler and perennial playoff contender but is now reeling on the court in large part due to multiple coaching changes and ownership uncertainty. The focus of the piece is the absentee owner being forced to sell off his majority ownership or buy out one or both of his two main minority owners, thanks to those minority owners exercising a buy-sell provision included in his ownership deal. The writer does a wonderful job working the buy-sell news into a feature about majority owner Robert Pera and his uncertain future with the Grizzlies. In what could have been a rather boring news story on the buy-sell option being exercised, the writer turned this into a wonderful look under the microscope at Pera’s tenure as majority owner and how things have fallen apart. The tensions presented in the tightly written narrative that exist between the owners make this piece a wonderfully layered story. Very strong writing and reporting makes this a must-read story.

3rd place: Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com, “Kyrie Irving requesting trade out of Cleveland to find bigger role”

Judge’s comment: This is a wonderful tale of one Alpha Dog (Kyrie Irving) being signed to a nice contract extension only to be blindsided by his team signing the ultimate NBA Alpha Dog (LeBron James) just two weeks later. The result was this breaking news: Irving requesting a trade from the Cavs so he could try to be a franchise player with another organization rather than play in James’ shadow. This is a major news story broken by the reporter using multiple league sources, including Irving’s agent. Nice nuggets are woven throughout the piece, including sources indicating James was blindsided by the move while Irving spoke with other members of the team about his decision. It paints a vivid picture of friction between the two stars. The writer also adds a nice angle near the end of the piece, using stats to show Irving’s and Cleveland’s struggles without James on the court. This is a strong, well-written, well-sourced story that sent shockwaves across the league and ultimately led to Irving heading to the Boston Celtics.

Honorable mention: Ryan Wolstat, National Post, “Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri’s long game pays off with no-brainer Serge Ibaka trade”

Judge’s comment: This story spotlights a reporter who was not going to be satisfied just writing a straight news story about the Raptors obtaining two-way big man Serge Ibaka in a deal with the Orlando Magic. The writer developed the story around Toronto’s team president seeking Ibaka long before the deal actually happened but not pulling the trigger to get the deal done in a way that would be too costly to his franchise. The story focuses on Masai Ujiri’s patience and slow, calculated approach to building the Raptors into a stronger franchise. The reporter does a nice job pulling all the pieces together in a feature presentation, but covering the team president’s focus and Ibaka’s NBA path leading to him becoming a Raptor. The story’s narrative proceeds smoothly and touches all the bases to make a trade story so much more appealing to the reader. This is a nice, well-written look at the relentless, yet patient approach Ujiri is taking to build his roster in Toronto and his key addition of Ibaka.

Honorable mention: Ian Begley, ESPN.com, “Frustrated Kristaps Porzingis skips Knicks meetings”

Judge’s comment: This story represents the big domino falling to set things in motion that ultimately led to the departure of Phil Jackson as the New York Knicks’ team president. This is an exclusive story on second-year Knicks growing star Kristaps Porzingis skipping his exit interview at the end of the season because of growing frustrations over the team’s dysfunction and struggles under Jackson’s leadership. The writer does a good job including background in the story about numerous troubles involving the Knicks over the course of the season and previous quotes from Porzingis voicing his building frustrations. The reporter also includes some blunt quotes from Jackson, showing a building tension between the player and team executive. This was an exclusive story that directly led to Jackson’s departure from the Knicks. The news value is extremely high in one of the NBA’s biggest markets, and the writing is solid.

Columns

1st place: Adrian Wojnarowski, The Vertical, “The history of basketball can’t be written without Jerry Krause”

Judge’s comment: This is a smart, informative, well-reasoned take on an intriguing topic. The writer’s case was made very effectively and without equivocation. The writing pushes it to the head of the field. This is a really nice piece.

2nd place: Paul Flannery, SB Nation, “Russell Westbrook was my NBA MVP pick because he defined the season”

Judge’s comment: The parallel to Allen Iverson “defining the game” is a smart, effective way to approach the MVP debate within the context of how the game (and the voters) have changed. This is another first-rate writing job as well. Excellent read.

3rd place: Howard Beck, Bleacher Report, “Kyrie Irving just can’t wait to be king”

Judge’s comment: In retrospect, the trade to the Celtics has worked out pretty well for Kyrie Irving, but this was written at the time Irving initiated his departure from Cleveland. This is a strong, sound opinion piece, cleverly written, that says a lot about the true value of James while raising valid questions about Irving’s judgment in wanting out. This was a very effective column at the time it was written.

Honorable mention: Joe Freeman, The Oregonian, “ ‘Cute’ Jusuf Nurkic finally unleashes his inner beast for Portland Trail Blazers. But is it here to stay?”

Judge’s comment: Columnists should have this pitch in their repertoire. The piece takes one incident from one game and does a nice job of attaching big-picture ramifications. The writing is very clever, and while the piece is much more locally focused than many of the other entries, it’s a useful reminder that an NBA season is a season and not a succession of 82 one-act plays.

Honorable mention: Frank Isola, New York Daily News, “Inside Phil Jackson’s tumultuous three years as Knicks president”

Judge’s comment: A lot of trees gave their lives to the analysis of this topic. I liked this effort best because its conclusions are based on thorough reporting as well as close observation. I was a little put off by a possible inference that a Jackson “snub” might have factored into the writer’s animus, but the overall strength of the column negates that quibble.

Game stories

1st place: Yaron Weitzman, Bleacher Report, “‘Lost in the game again,’ Isaiah Thomas’ Legend Continues to Grow”

Judge’s comment: The words tell an amazing story, start to finish, while touching upon numerous poignant details about how Isaiah Thomas handled an extremely difficult personal situation while having the game of his life. There was great reporting to add depth, reaching out to former high school and college coaches and great description and analysis — “drilling silky moonbeams” — and the Wizards forcing Thomas to use his off hand, which led to a great quote from his high school coach: “Give him a pen and you’ll see that he’s actually a righty.”

2nd place: Adam Himmelsbach, The Boston Globe, “Gordon Hayward suffers fractured left ankle in first game with Celtics”

Judge’s comment: This became one of the biggest stories of the season, on opening night no less, with the entire league spotlight on a LeBron James-Kyrie Irving media circus reunion only to be usurped by a shocking injury to a star free-agent addition. So all the pregame suspense dissipated in an instant, which made this story so difficult yet so good. “I can’t unsee that,” one woman in the stands said, a quote that sums up everything. The ending tied it all up perfectly: Irving and James, whose pregame greeting was brief and chilly, hugged after the final buzzer. But on this night, the drama surrounding Irving’s return became an afterthought.

3rd place: Tania Ganguli, Los Angeles Times, “After learning of grandmother’s death, D’Angelo Russell wins game for Lakers on last-second three-pointer”

Judge’s comment: This story sets the scene of a poignant moment of an unlikely hero on a sad day turned triumphant. This piece includes great quotes and description, especially the description of the game-winning shot: “falling through the net as if someone pulled it.”

Honorable mention: Todd Dybas, The Washington Times, “Wizards drop Game 7 on Celtics’ second-half blitz”

Judge’s comment: The story weaves the big picture of a franchise, then the season and finally the final game, of unfulfilled destiny.  Crisp writing included great descriptions: “boo-inducing five points” … “hump-climbing season” … “A building filled with grousing fans five minutes prior was alive again” … “They always look somewhat numb in this position.”

Honorable mention: Joe Freeman, The Oregonian, “Portland Trail Blazers and their fans outlast heavy snow, ‘miserable’ day and Cleveland Cavaliers”

Judge’s comment: The lede tells the story and strong reporting followed with great quotes and perspective.

Magazine-length Features

1st place: Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated,  “ ‘You Can’t Give In’: Monty Williams On Life After Tragedy”

Judge’s comment: This is a gut-wrenching read. It was reported deeply, and despite the sheer number of the various voices and the details the author incorporated, the writing flows well. The author told an intricate story, in a way, but the author got into the piece easily and ended it well.

2nd place: Baxter Holmes, ESPN The Magazine, “The NBA’s Secret Addiction”

Judge’s comment: This subject is whimsical and not all that important. But so what? This is a really entertaining piece about an off-the-wall topic. It was reported well, and writer deserves credit for keeping the mood and atmosphere appropriate for the story.

3rd place: Ramona Shelburne, ESPN.com,  “How did the Lakers get here? The inside story of the Buss drama”

Judge’s comment: This story, reminiscent of a soap opera, was reported in detail. A lot of moving parts are involved, but the piece flows well. The author produced an informative and entertaining read.

Honorable mention: Stefan Bondy, New York Daily News, “Worst trade ever: Looking back (and forward) on ’13 draft when Nets went ‘all-in’ on deal for Celtics’ Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce”

Judge’s comment: The writer offers an interesting premise (one I’m not sure I buy). But the facts are laid out for everyone to see. The writer did a nice job weaving in both on-court and off-court intrigue.

Honorable mention: Jeremy Woo, SI.com, “ ‘Many Shoot, Few Make’: Inside the NBA’s First Journey to Russia”

Judge’s comment: This is a great topic that featured good reporting. The writing was a bit choppy at times. The bottom line: The author created an entertaining piece rich with great anecdotes.

Moderate-length Features

1st place: Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com, “Who’s running the Milwaukee Bucks? That’s a good question”

Judge’s comment: Good reporting underpins this piece on an interesting topic, and the information was tied together nicely with Giannis Antetokounmpo appearing in the lede and the outro. This was a nice synopsis of some weird goings-on.

2nd place: Bill Oram, The Orange County Register, “From Kobe Bryant’s agent to Magic Johnson’s GM: Can Rob Pelinka save the Lakers?”

Judge’s comment: The writer reported this topic well and provided solid background about Rob Pelinka. All of the details were woven together adeptly.

3rd place: Vincent Goodwill, Bleacher Report, “‘The Movement has been hijacked’: What has NBA Learned from NFL’s Mistakes?”

Judge’s comment: This is a natural story to write, but despite the obvious nature of the topic, this piece was still informative and eminently readable. The article includes a lot of unsourced comments, but that was sadly understandable in this situation.

Honorable mention: Rick Bonnell, The Charlotte Observer, “Why the Hornets’ original uniforms — with ‘classy’ pinstripes and pleats — remain iconic”

Judge’s comment: This is not exactly an important topic, but so what? The author definitely produced a fun read. George Shinn and Alexander Julian provided inside information. Truthfully, this was a surprisingly interesting story.

Honorable mention: K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune, “From Cazzie Russell to Dwyane Wade: Chicago’s remarkable NBA brotherhood”

Judge’s comment: An entertaining topic forms the foundation of this piece, which was strengthened by excellent reporting. You could tell that the author seemed invested in the story idea because of the wide variety of people she or he interviewed. This probably wasn’t an easy story to do because of the sheer number of people necessary to interview.