Over 15 years in broadcasting, Michael Grady has covered nearly all the ground there is from radio to television, behind the scenes and in front of the camera. But this past summer, the YES Network's Brooklyn Nets sideline reporter still had another one of those first-time moments that brought him back to what led him towards the business in the first place.
One of his favorite watches growing up was NBA Inside Stuff, where Ahmad Rashad took the show beyond the basketball court to connect with the personalities behind the talent. That was the focus behind the Nets' Summer in the City series of videos, which brought Grady to Chinatown with young Brooklyn center Jarrett Allen.
The pair toured the neighborhood, visited some blacktop basketball courts, poked around shops and sat down for a meal.
"This is literally what I would watch on the floor in my living room at home as a kid watching Ahmad Rashad, this type of stuff," said Grady. "Joking, laughing, bringing personality out, buying chopsticks at a local spot. And so I thought that was really, really cool. That, to me, is just the best part, because these guys are really good guys. They eat, sleep, breathe basketball, but they have different interests, other things that they care about, and getting to connect with the human side of these guys and bringing that out, because I think about little Michael Grady somewhere who's watching Spencer Dinwiddie and makes a connection with him on his love of Marvel, or Jarrett Allen and his love of video games. Or whatever it might be. Might be fashion, might be something else. So that's the coolest part for me is making that connection with these players and being that liaison between them and the fan base."
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