LEFT TO RIGHT: Joseph Phillips and David Aldridge
Awarded the 2016 Curt Gowdy Award for his commitment to excellence in the field of sports journalism, reporter David Aldridge spoke to the Crusader about the importance of All Star weekend being hosted in the state of Indiana and the rich basketball history the state hones.
“Well, there’s a lot of things that’s going through my mind,” said Aldridge to the Crusader on what NBA All Star Weekend in Indianapolis means to him. “First, Oscar Robinson was here. He went to high school here and won two state titles.”
Aldridge said in a recent article he written for the Athletic, “Anyone who follows basketball knows the deep and meaningful ties between this city, this state and the game. There is, of course, the story of Milan High School, in 1954, 80 miles southeast, winning an improbable state high school championship for a town of less than 1,000 people, the team immortalized (and renamed Hickory) in the film “Hoosiers.”
He continued: “There is Larry Bird, from French Lick, 100 miles southwest, who put Indiana State’s basketball team on the map in 1978 and ’79 (four-plus decades later, the Sycamores are back) and became one of the NBA’s all-time greats. There is Reggie Miller, who forged a Hall of Fame career here, over 18 seasons with the Pacers. There are the Pacers teams from the ABA that won three ABA titles between 1970 and ’73, and made two other ABA finals. There are George McGinnis and Bobby “Slick” Leonard, and today, Tyrese Haliburton.”
Aldridge, a native of Washington, D.C. is a graduate of American University. In the past, he has worked as a writer for The Washington Post, where he spent nine years as a beat writer covering Georgetown University basketball, the Washington Bullets, and the Washington Redskins, according to his bio.
He also covered the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, national college basketball and football, the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup playoffs, the World Series, the Indianapolis 500, and the U.S. Open tennis championships. He is a fan of American University men’s basketball and worked as the “Insider” for TNT’s Inside the NBA and did sideline reporting work during the regular season, All-Star Weekend and the NBA playoffs.
He was also co-host of the weekly show The Beat on NBA TV, and was a commentator for other NBA on TNT features. He also worked as a sideline reporter for television broadcasts of college football games and the Major League Baseball divisional series, added his bio.
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
