Sage Steele went from rooting against Jalen Rose to interviewing him and to now working alongside him.
“I hated him back then,” Steele said of Rose, referring to her days as a student at Indiana when Rose was starring at Michigan.
“He was in the Fab Five when I was in Bloomington and I always told him, ‘It’s a really good thing you couldn’t hear what I was saying about you.’ If you had, we would not be working together. I covered him with the Pacers in 97-98.”
Steele has worked her way up the ranks, both in the journalism business as a whole and at ESPN, and began hosting the revamped “NBA Countdown” last week. The new show was put together somewhat hastily with Magic Johnson’s surprise departure three weeks before the season, which followed Michael Wilbon’s departure. Columnist Bill Simmons and Rose remained, while former NBA coach Doug Collins and Doris Burke, who will host on Wednesdays, also joined the show with Steele (Friday and Sunday).
“It’s probably not the timing that any of us preferred. But, hello? Here we go,” Steele said days before their debut last week.
Steele said the group had no problem clicking in rehearsals, referring to the three analysts as “Chatty Cathys.” Simmons and Rose have formed a bond in recent years and work closely together on Grantland. Collins spent years at TNT in between coaching gigs for the Bulls, Wizards and 76ers. While incorporating the new personalities, Simmons wrote the new show would focus on “big-picture NBA” and not just be “promoting-the-upcoming-games pregame show.”
It does not go directly against TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” which has become the industry standard for pregame shows with Ernie Johnson directing traffic for Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. Steele likes the conversational format TNT’s show has mastered and hopes her show will have that, as well, but with an added element.
“That’s what stands out about our show. We have the coach’s perspective from Doug Collins, the player’s perspective from Jalen, and Doug is a former player as well, and then Bill as the ultimate fan,” Steele said. “I think it’s going to be really, really fun for me to try and get all those perspectives out of those guys – not going to be difficult at all.”
Steele has been at ESPN as a “SportsCenter” host since 2007 and was sad to say goodbye to the network’s flagship program. But she is relishing the opportunity to focus on one sport.
“Is there more pressure? Yes, absolutely,” the 40-year-old Steele said. “But here’s why I don’t feel intimidated at all: In part because I am older and 18 years in the business and I know I can do it. If they didn’t believe I could do it, ESPN never would have asked me to do it – in a position that’s so important to them and the league. More so, because I was in “SportsCenter” and throughout my career I’ve had to focus on several sports at once. With this, it’s the first time in my career I can concentrate on one sport. I love “SportsCenter” that was my goal since I was 12 years old and I did it. This is truly just an awesome opportunity.”