by Zach Lowe has a strong case for being the best sportswriter in America right now. Naturally, sportswriter only partially describes Lowe’s role at ESPN in recent years: He has been a fixture on television as a panelist on NBA Today, and he hosts the league’s top podcast, The Lowepost. At a time when the sports media feels like it’s 80 percent screaming talking heads or objective clickbait, Lowe was able to cover the NBA through an analytical and tactical lens that never felt too pretentious to the casual fan, while also delivering original reporting .
On Thursday, ESPN made the surprising decision to fire Lowe just weeks before the opening of the 2024-2025 NBA season. I say surprising and not amazingbecause: a) ESPN has been laying off a lot of employees lately, b) no one in sports media can claim to have real job security. Still, letting go of someone as talented and popular as Lowe just because he was rightfully paid a high salary is an extremely troubling decision for the company that claims to be the global leader in sports.
As my old friend Tom Ziller astutely noted, ESPN just spent billions of dollars to be included in the league’s next media rights deal. You’d think that a company that has a significant financial interest in getting people excited about the NBA would want a brilliant but likable analyst who was always finding new things to get excited about in the league. Unfortunately, that would be giving ESPN too much credit.
Lowe is your favorite basketball writer’s favorite basketball writer. A former high school teacher turned crime reporter, Lowe got his big break in sportswriting when he was hired to run Sports Illustrated’s Point Forward blog. A few years later he was hired by the legendary Bill Simmons Grantland site, where he fully emerged as the NBA’s most essential writer. Lowe was one of the first online basketball writers to break down offensive sets and defensive coverages the way a coach would. He has always had a seamless ability to integrate analysis into his writing and podcasts without going over the heads of the reader and listener. These days, online basketball writing is filled with many Lowe proteges, though few do it as well as he does.
Lowe never lost his curiosity as he juggled his growing responsibilities at ESPN after Grantland quit. He’s a nerd in the best possible way, delving into the details of the league and the storylines bubbling beneath the surface for all 30 teams. He’s also an excellent reporter: his last podcast for ESPN with new Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick was a clinic on how to ask tough questions at the plate and coerce insightful answers from your subjects (Redick revealed his starting lineup and how he dealt with, among other things, the Lakers’ interest in Danny Hurley).
Even when he blew up a big name with legitimate sources, Lowe still had the heart of an underdog. When he wasn’t bringing current coaches and players on his podcast, he added a nice mix of them big J journalists with novice bloggers. It was heartwarming to see him give his large platform to brilliant analysts like Caitlin Cooper, Mike Prada, Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones over the years. The Lowe Post walked the line between entertaining and informative, without ever feeling like the host had an inflated ego.
Personally, I have always been grateful that Lowe spent airtime praising my friend Jonathan Tjarks, who tragically passed away from cancer two years ago. Lowe used the opening of his podcast to explain what made Tjarks such an astute writer with a unique eye for the game. I’m sure no one asked Lowe that, but he did it because Tjarks’ life and work deserved more recognition. That’s exactly the kind of man Lowe is.
There are too many great Lowe’s pieces to choose from as a favorite. I fondly remember his analysis of the Monty Williams-era Phoenix Suns’ devastating pick-and-roll offense, or his deep dive into how the Thunder nixed the Warriors with 73 wins. As Lowe moved into more podcasting and television, his written breakdowns became slightly less frequent. It seemed like he was urged by ESPN to talk about the Los Angeles Lakers or potential offseason moves more often in recent years. One possible upside to his departure from ESPN is that he may feel more empowered to pursue the topics he is truly passionate about in his next home.
ESPN’s decision is infuriating for NBA fans who love smart reporting, but Lowe himself will be fine. He’ll either quickly land a job in the league for another outlet, or he might end up working in a team’s front office. As a fan of the perennially hopeless Chicago Bulls, I would like to take this opportunity to implore them to fire Arturas Karnisovas and hire Lowe instead.
ESPN still had plenty of good basketball coverage, but losing Lowe and Adrian Wojnarowski in the same offseason will hurt. The next time you turn on the television and there are two talking heads spouting loud nonsense about basketball, just know that it didn’t have to be this way.
