Chris Haynes is building an NBA reporting team to be reckoned with at Yahoo Sports.
Haynes, Yahoo's newly hired senior NBA Insider and editor-in-chief Johnny Ludden are finalizing a deal with up and comer Seerat Sohi of SB Nation, sources tell Sporting News. If Sohi does jump to jump Yahoo, she's expected to cover the NBA from her native Canada.
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Haynes, who was lured to Yahoo from ESPN to succeed Adrian Wojnarowski, is a big-time news breaker. He's so tight with NBA players that Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard tweeted the free agent journalist was jumping to Yahoo to build its new NBA team.
On Friday, Haynes broke the news that an angry Draymond Green dared Warriors teammate Kevin Durant to leave the team during free agency next summer. During his time at ESPN, he broke plenty of scoops and showed an ability to get superstars like LeBron James to open up in a way they don't with other reporters.
Sohi's skill set would make a nice match with Haynes and recent hire Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago. The SB Nation staff writer specializes in long-form, feature pieces, such as how social media has helped turn the NBA into made-for-TV drama.
"The NFL remains programming king, with regular season numbers that mirror playoff NBA viewership, but basketball is catching up," wrote Sohi. "Thanks to a cocktail of social media and star power, the NBA has cultivated some of the best characters in professional sports. It’s looking more and more like a TV show every year."
Sporting News first reported that Haynes would jump from ESPN. Sohi, Haynes and Ludden all declined to comment for this story.
Several other big name NBA insiders have switched jobs in recent months. David Aldridge and Sam Amick joined The Athletic from, respectively, Turner Sports and USA Today. After getting laid off by ESPN, Marc Stein joined The New York Times.
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Haynes has a unique backstory that should give hope to aspiring sports journalists.
Only eight years years ago, the Fresno, Calif., native was working as a security guard by day and unpaid NBA freelancer at night.
Since then he's shot up the ladder, covering both the Warriors and Cavaliers for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and ESPN.
Anthony Davis is a perennial MVP & DPOY candidate but there was a time when injuries could have derailed his career. For @sbnation’s NBA preview, how he and other big men are fighting to survive and thrive in a league that threatens to make them extinct: https://t.co/I5DZ1Temws
— Seerat Sohi (@seeratsohi) October 9, 2018
ESPN tried to keep Haynes with a new contract. But there was a big opening at Yahoo after Wojnarowski left for ESPN and his protege, Shams Charania, jumped to The Athletic.
Ludden has given Haynes input into the hiring process. If the duo land Sohi, look for them to hire additional NBA reporters/editors.
With the NBA now challenging the NFL for the title of most-talked-about year-round sport, NBA Insiders such as Haynes and personalities such as Rob "World Wide Wob" Perez are becoming worth their weight in gold.
For the first time, there's more movement and opportunity among NBA journalists than those who cover the NFL or MLB.
