The NBA on TNT is one of the best ways to watch NBA basketball and one of the reasons for that is that TNT has a huge group of talented people covering everything happening on and off the court.
Who is the NBA on TNT courtside reporter? Allie LaForce is the lead sideline reporter for the NBA on TNT, with Kristen Ledlow, Stephanie Ready and Matt Winer also covering the courtside reporter role for the NBA on TNT.
For the last four years, Allie LaForce has been the lead courtside reporter for the NBA on TNT after she signed a deal with Turner Sports having failed to agree on an extension with CBS Sports. She is supported by Kristen Ledlow and Stephanie Ready who also step in as courtside reporters, with Matt Winer being the courtside reporter for the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
Who is Allie LaForce?
Allie LaForce has had quite the rise to stardom and it started at a very young age. Growing up in Ohio, she initially went into pageantry, winning the Miss Teen USA 2005 title, before playing basketball for the Ohio University basketball team. Despite a modelling contract, LaForce always looked to get into sports coverage.
She first began working as a sideline reporter for local station Sportstime Ohio, covering football and basketball. She signed with Cleveland’s WJW channel 8 as a sports anchor after college.
Her big break came in 2014 when LaForce replaced Tracy Wolfson as the sideline reporter for the SEC on CBS. She became a crucial part of CBS’s coverage of college football through the SEC on CBS college football broadcast, as well as covering the NCAA tournament.
But in 2018, LaForce and CBS could not agree on a new contract. Thankfully, there were plenty of offers coming in for LaForce thanks to her brilliant work for CBS in her five and a half years with the company. One of the major offers came from Turner Sports which is the company that owns TNT.
LaForce accepted the offer and has continued her role as sideline reporter for the NBA on TNT as well as still working on the NCAA tournament. She was crucial to the network’s coverage of the 2022 NBA playoffs and has interviewed NBA stars like Chris Paul and Lebron James.
LaForce does a lot of work off the court as well, starting the Help Cure HD foundation alongside her husband, MLB pitcher Joe Smith. The foundation aims to improve the lives of people affected by Huntington’s Disease as well as looking for a cure.
Who is Kristen Ledlow?
Much like many other sports commentators, Kristen Ledlow was into sport from a very young age, playing basketball and volleyball in high school as well as running track and cross country. Much like LaForce, Ledlow was also involved in pageantry in her teenage years, being crowned Miss Capital City USA.
Ledlow was always targeting sports broadcasting and majored in broadcasting and communications in college, also serving as lead announcer for her university’s men’s basketball games.
After graduating, Ledlow first worked at WTXL-TV and for ESPN Tallahassee. Her first job as sideline reporter was with the Florida State Seminoles football games. This was what gave Ledlow the national attention that eventually got her hired by NBA TV as the host for NBA Inside Stuff alongside former NBA star Grant Hill.
Ledlow hosted this until 2016 and this is when she started to cover games for TNT as the courtside reporter. She has now been with Turner Sports for eight years and despite growing up in Florida, she now calls Atlanta her home.
Who is Stephanie Ready?
The transition from coach to commentator is one we have seen quite often, but there are few to go from a coaching career to becoming one of the best NBA sideline reporters.
Born in Takoma Park, Maryland, Ready always had an eye for basketball and became a star at Coppin State University in Baltimore. She was so talented that Coppin State athletic director Ron Mitchell asked Ready to help coach the university’s Division 1 basketball team as well as becoming the first woman allowed to recruit off-campus for a men’s Division 1 basketball team.
She would continue in this role until 2001 when she became the first woman to coach a men’s professional league team when she took up a role in the NBA Development League which would become the G-League. She began her reporting career in 2004, becoming the Sideline Reporter for the Charlotte Bobcats.
Ready would become a Hornets broadcasting legend as well as the first full-time female NBA game analyst. But after a demotion back to sideline reporter, Ready signed with Turner Sports.
Ready actually first featured on TNT back in 2006 and 2007 as a part-time sideline reporter for the NBA playoffs. She made quite the impact on the Hornets and is already making an impact on the NBA on TNT.
Who is Matt Winer?
The NBA on TNT team tends to employ younger courtside reporters, but Matt Winer brings a lot more experience than the others already mentioned.
Born and educated in Missouri, Winer went straight into TV work after graduating from the University of Missouri with a degree in Journalism. Winer worked for various small stations including KSDK-TV in his hometown of St Louis Missouri, Wood-TV in Grand Rapids Michigan and KTVQ in Billings Montana.
His first major role came in 2001 when Winer signed with ESPN, working mainly in Football and Basketball. But it was his versatility that was one of the big reasons why Turner Sports signed Winer in 2010.
He is one of the courtside reporters and took a much bigger role in the 2022 NBA playoffs. Winer is one of the most versatile employees for Turner Sports. As well as his NBA coverage, Winer became the studio host for Major League Baseball on TBS when he signed with Turner Sports, replacing Ernie Johnson.
Winer has also worked on TNT’s coverage of NASCAR, the PGA Tour and has been a studio host for College Basketball on CBS.