A Titan of NBA Writing Accepts a Buyout

[derwood]

Jack McCallum

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-36-81/A-Titan-of-NBA-Writing-Accepts-a-Buyout.html

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

Wow, that sucks. I love reading his stuff. He's the epitome of what an SI writer should be. I hope he writes another book soon.

 

[smsu_scribe]

SI just got a whole lot lonelier. Jack made the NBA so much better for me. I respected him as much as any SI writer. Gary and S.L. might write the longer, more elegant pieces, but Jack was so consistent and it seemed like he would have an article in nearly every issue during the season.

 

[JakeandElwood]

I went to the Poynter summit a couple of years ago and his and John Sawatzky's sessions were by far the best of the ones I saw. He went through the process of writing a feature on Steve Nash, showing some of the lead ideas he had along the way. I would have killed to be able to write some of the ones he quickly dismissed.

Seemed like a really nice guy too.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Wow.

 

[mocheeks10]

He is as good as it gets, as a person and a writer.

 

[AD]

simply the best. and for those who know? the guy is the heart and soul of SI, the classic SI people grew up loving. a mighty blow.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Dayum.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Grew up reading him write about the NBA in the 80s. He left that beat for quite awhile but eventually returned and was as good as ever. This is a huge blow. His most recent piece on the Charlotte Bobcats was a great example of what he did, complete with some subtle shots at Jordan (who stilll doesn't talk to the magazine because of that baseball cover 14 years ago).

 

[Joe Williams]

Jack's NBA work has been stellar, his work ethic is closer to a metro beat writer's grind than a premier weekly magazine's pace and I always was impressed with the high quality of his non-NBA pieces for SI. I'm hoping he takes this opportunity to stretch his legs beyond David Stern's league, in terms of books or freelancing or non-sports.

 

[clutchcargo]

McCallum is a great guy and wonderful writer/reporter. He reminds me a bit of Halberstam, letting his great reporting and observations make for a wonderful read instead of trying to be stylish or cute like so many homogenized "big-time" writers do nowadays.

Jack has a lot of good years and good writing still in him---sorry, jack, if I'm making it sound like you are an old guy. You're not, but just trying to make a point.

 

[I Digress]

I am not an NBA fan. I read every one of Jack's stories when they were in SI.

 

[playthrough]

Same here, I Digress.

 

[Beaker]

Damn. SI won't be the same.

 

[Ch.B]

Effortless writer, great storyteller (in prose and in person), advocate for his peers and he works his ass off. Definition of a pro's pro.

Great story about Jack from a couple years ago. He was in an NBA locker room - forget the team but it was full of young guys - when Bill Walton walked in and, seeing Jack, turned to the assortment of newly-minted millionaires and said, unbidden: "OKAY GUYS, I WANT YOUR ATTENTION! This is Mister Jack MAC-CALLUM, the FINEST NBA WRITER to EVER cover the sport. He's been covering it since the days of LARRY BIRD AND MAGIC JOHNSON. Please answer all his questions and give him your FULL ATTENTION. THANK YOU."

Here's to hoping Jack takes full advantage of his new 'special contributor' status to SI.

 

[mocheeks10]

Great story. And for a change, Walton was correct.

 

[Blitz]

Good story down the page a bit, on George Karl & his D-league son, Coby, dealing with cancer.

Good luck to McCallum, who kept me informed (along with Bask.Digest and Sporting News) on my idol, Pistol Pete, when I was easing into my teen years.

 

[Boom_70]

Jack has done a great job chronicaling The NBA for SI. It's to bad the quality of subject in past decade did not match the high quality of his writing.
As good a basketball writer as he has been his best work in SI might have been the story about his HS pal who went off to Viet Nam -- "Two Athletes Two Soldiers"

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1108188/index.htm

That one made the room dusty.

Jack - all the best !

 

[Some Guy]

I'd be lying if I purported to be best friends with McCallum, but he sure seems like good people to me.

We met one time at a playoff game last May, then found ourselves in line for the same Southwest Airlines flight the next day. He was in business class, so he was able to board before me. He saved me a seat, without me asking, and proceeded to shoot the breeze with me the entire trip home.

Usually, I hate talking to my neighbors on airline flights, but this was different. In no small part because "Seven Seconds or Less" was the first book I bought when I got the NBA beat. Of course, I didn't tell him that.

Here was a "Titan of NBA writing" basically bending the ear of a rookie and making him feel accepted into the fraternity, really for no reason. He probably doesn't remember that flight, but I always will.

 

[I Digress]

That, and the story SI did after Secretariat died, were two of the best pieces ever.