2018: Steve Smith chats mistaken identity, Australian basketball greats, and long-form journalism

Punching Sideways (The Early Days)

https://www.jcaldigital.org/punching-sideways

This Episode was first broadcast in 2018.

Steve Smith (@stevesmithffx) is a feature writer with ESPN, digital media practitioner and NBA podcaster. Plus, as you will discover in this conversation, he isn't the former Captain of the Australian Cricket Team, although many of Twitter still believe that he is!

Steve spent many years as the Bandits/SEABL beat writer for Fairfax Media (based out of Albury-Wodonga), where he developed a unique skill for producing feature pieces and long form articles.

We chat.

• Steve being mistaken on Twitter for the former Australian Cricket Captain "Steve Smith" who was recently embroiled in an international ball tampering scandal.

• A recent Twitter blow-up around certain media outlets asking the question: "is Ben Simmons the greatest Australian basketball player ever?"

• A not-hot take on Malcolm Gladwell's take on tennis.

• The state of sports journalism in 2018, and the size of a beat in a global sports league like the NBA.

• Steve's incredible article on Erin Phillips for ESPN AUS

@joshuacliston on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and GoodReads