Inside Hoops

InsideHoops.com, or Inside Hoops, is a basketball news website that was founded in 1999 by Jeff Lenchiner. The site, which updates several times a day, primarily delivers NBA basketball coverage. The site also features basic daily college basketball coverage, WNBA news roundups, and coverage of top high school and street basketball events in the United States, as well as minor league and international hoops.

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A professional media outlet with press credential access to every level of basketball, Inside Hoops' staff is small and only consists of respected professional sports journalists. Editorial contributors to the website number in the hundreds. Former writers for InsideHoops.com went on to have jobs at New York Newsday, SportsTicker, Deadspin, CSTV, ESPN radio and other well-known outlets. Other writers went on to contribute to the New York Daily News, Slam Magazine and the Orlando Sentinel.

Interviews

InsideHoops.com publishes exclusive interviews with the superstars of basketball. Some of the famous players to have done face-to-face Inside Hoops interviews include LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming, Chris Webber, Elton Brand, Tracy McGrady, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal, Pat Riley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the majority of known players in professional basketball.

Because so many players interview with InsideHoops.com, the site is known as the home base for lots of famous NBA players. Many of them have recorded audio welcomes for the website, which are found on the lower right corner of the front page. NBA Commissioner David Stern even recorded a greeting, welcoming readers to Inside Hoops.

Media coverage

InsideHoops.com was called "a haven for pro basketball junkies" by Sports Illustrated in their December 25, 2000 issue. It was named "Best of the Web" by Forbes a year later. The InsideHoops.com NBA "Rumors" page, praised by Yahoo Internet Life back in 2001, is famous and read by the majority of the basketball media and fan world. Newsweek magazine recommended InsideHoops.com in March 2005, citing its "clever analysis."

InsideHoops.com and the NBA basketball analysis of Jeff Lenchiner are regularly quoted as a source by leading sports journalists and major newspapers, magazines and radio shows. The website has been referenced in basketball articles by the New York Times, New York Post, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Daily News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, SportsTicker, NBA.com, CNNSI.com, ESPN Insider, Kansas City Star, Indianapolis Star, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Daily News, Jerusalem Post and dozens of other major newspapers and magazines.

Jeff Lenchiner

Jeff Lenchiner a regular guest on major radio stations around the world and has been interviewed as a guest NBA expert on ESPN radio in multiple cities, ABC radio across most of the United States, BBC radio heard worldwide, nationwide on Fox Sports radio, Sirius Satellite radio, WFAN radio in New York and other major stations. He was one of the main experts interviweed for the VH1 "Fabulous Life of Hoop Superstars" television special, WB channel 11 evening news in NYC, referenced on TNT television during the NBA playoffs, quoted on NBA TV repeatedly, on NBA.com, quoted as a source in stories by the Associated Press, Sportsticker, many leading newspapers and other outlets. His opinions and information have also been quoted in over 20 books (source: Google books)

Lenchiner, as of late 2006, also regularly contributes basketball features to HOOP, the official magazine of the NBA.

Lenchiner also wrote the majority of NBA All-Star player profiles, including those of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, for the official 2007 NBA All-Star weekend event program, which took place in Las Vegas. It was the most high-profile weekend in the event's history due to it being the only such weekend to ever take place in a city that did not have an NBA team.

Lenchiner also speaks publicly and in January 2007 was a guest in a graduate level sports journalism class in City University of New York. Roy Johnson, former New York Times and Sports Illustated columnist, and the writer of authorized biographies for Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley, had Jeff speak to future journalists about the digital age and how the internet is changing the face of sports journalism.

Lenchiner was called "a virtual one-man basketball team" by Sports Illustrated in their Dec. 25, 2000 issue.

Aside from his work as a journalist and pioneer of online sports coverage, Lenchiner in the past worked for two leading financial firms, studied engineering and math in college, attended the world famous LaGuardia High School of Music and Art (the "Fame" school) in New York City where he was a musician, and had past jobs in public relations, hosting radio shows, and in a music recording studio. He also used to be an extra in movies and is visible in the Howard Stern movie "Private Parts."

Internet forum

The Inside Hoops message boards features a very popular NBA forum with thousands of posts a day. They have personal forums for all NBA teams, as well as forums for college, high school, draft, streetball, international, video game, and a sneakers forum.