Brian Windhorst has built his career by reporting on the inner-workings of NBA front offices, and it turns out he almost joined one himself.
In Thursday’s episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” Torre reported that Thunder general manager Sam Presti once explored hiring Windhorst away from ESPN to be an “information guy” for Oklahoma City.
“A little over a decade ago, [Presti] actually explored hiring our extremely plugged-in buddy Brian Windhorst away from ESPN to work as an information guy for the Thunder,” Torre said.
Torre noted that the reason the longtime general manager pursued Windhorst was because “information, to Sam Presti, is currency.”
“It is an edge,” Torre added. “A competitive advantage, and you don’t surrender that information.”
Windhorst stayed put at ESPN, but he wouldn’t have been the first NBA reporter or media personality to take a role within an organization.
John Hollinger joined the Grizzlies’ front office after working at ESPN, and then moved back into the media realm as a writer for The Athletic.
Longtime Sports Illustrated profile writer Lee Jenkins took a job as the Clippers’ Executive Director of Research and Identity, and now works with the team as Vice President of Basketball Affairs.
Others have been unsuccessful in making similar jumps with Bill Simmons campaigning to be GM of the Timberwolves in 2009.
Windhorst, though, has remained firmly on the media side of things, and is now ironically reporting on the Thunder in the 2025 NBA Finals.
The Akron, Ohio native kickstarted his career by covering LeBron James in high school, with the two both attending St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, though Windhorst graduated seven years before James.
He moved on to become the Cavs beat writer at the Akron Beacon Journal and Cleveland Plain Dealer before joining ESPN in 2010, after LeBron took his talents to South Beach and joined the Heat.
And the Windhorst tidbit wasn’t the only news Torre revealed about Presti on his show.
It turns out Presti made a jazz-rap album called “Milk Money,” which had been wiped off the internet, before becoming an uber-successful basketball executive.
A man of many talents, clearly.