Advice for aspiring NBA writers at Fansided, from a bunch of NBA writers

Michael Dunlap, who founded Hoops Habit and is senior content director at Fansided, asked a bunch of NBA writers for their best advice for aspiring sportswriters. You’ll probably learn as much by reading their answers as you’ll learn in a month in a college sportswriting class, so consider it a money and time saver.

If you’re in college, take statistics instead.

Zach Lowe of Grantland, Jody Genessy of Deseret News and Sam Amico of Fox Sports all say to read and write a lot, which is also common advice around here. They and others, including Sekou Smith of NBA.com and Fran Fraschilla of ESPN, talk about interviewing, breaking into the business, getting noticed, covering a team and quite a few other things.

The most important nugget, I think, comes from Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated. “I think the most important question to ask is: What’s my competitive advantage?” he says. What can I do better than everyone else (or almost everyone else)?”