October 24, 2008 – The Chicago Bulls announced today that prominent and longtime Chicago sports journalist Sam Smith will be doing all his future writing and continuing his popular NBA column exclusively on the team’s web site, Bulls.com.
In his new role, Smith will also provide in-depth coverage of every Bulls game along with a post-game analysis and report available on the site. Additionally, Smith will write a daily blog about the activities in the NBA, participate in a question and answer mailbag with readers, and host live chat sessions with fans on Bulls.com.
“Sam is one of the most highly regarded sports journalists in the country, and the most prominent basketball writer of the last 20 years,” said Steve Schanwald, Executive Vice President of Business Operation for the Chicago Bulls. “We are delighted to be able to provide basketball fans all over the world with the opportunity to continue reading his reports on the Bulls and NBA by visiting Bulls.com exclusively. I would also like to point out that the Chicago Bulls will have no right of prior approval over the things Sam writes. He has been given complete independence by us, the same kind of independence he enjoyed while writing for the past 25 years at the Chicago Tribune.”
Smith will also contribute articles for the team’s magazine, BasketBull, and occasionally appear as a guest on Bulls television and radio broadcasts.
“I’m excited to be back in Chicago writing about the NBA and the Bulls, which I’ve done for the last 25 years, said Smith. “I’m also excited because I believe this outlet on Bulls.com is one of the new avenues of journalism, where I can interact with fans about the team and the league on a daily basis. I hope to make Bulls.com the place to come for NBA and Bulls information and discussion. I think this is a bold, innovative step by the Bulls and the wave of the future in sports writing. I’m not joining the Bulls as a full-time employee, so I’m confident I will have the independence I have always had to inform, entertain and analyze. I’m staking a quarter-century credibility on that.”
Smith covered the Bulls and the NBA for the Chicago Tribune for 25 years. He is the author of the best selling The Jordan Rules, which was top ten on the New York Times Bestseller List for three months. He is also the author of Second Coming: The Strange Odyssey of Michael Jordan and co-author of the Total Basketball Encyclopedia. Smith served as president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association for four terms, a feat no one else has accomplished. He also served on committees for the NBA and The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, Smith has been a basketball columnist for MSNBC Sports, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, SportingNews.com and HoopsHype.com. He is currently a basketball analyst for Comcast SportsNet in Chicago, Chengdu Economic Daily in China, and radio stations in Washington, D.C. and Memphis, Tennessee. He received an undergraduate degree from Pace University in New York City and a master’s degree in journalism from Ball State University where he is also a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. Earlier in his career, he worked as a public accountant in New York City and a congressional and White House reporter in Washington, D.C.