- published: 25 May 2016
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Brian Windhorst, also known as "Windy" or "Scoop", (born January 29, 1978) is an American sportswriter for ESPN.com who covers the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the Cleveland Cavaliers beat writer for the Akron Beacon Journal from 2003 through the summer of 2008, and began to work for Cleveland newspaper The Plain Dealer in October 2008. He moved to ESPN in 2010 after LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.
He picked up the nickname Scoop at the Beacon Journal when he was working as a part-timer. He would bring in news items on local high schools, eventually earning the nickname Scoop.
Windhorst attended high school in Akron, Ohio at St. Vincent - St. Mary High School, the same school that James would later attend, and graduated from Kent State University with a degree in journalism in 2000. Windhorst began covering James during his high school playing career, and began covering the Cavaliers in 2003, the year that James was drafted. While James was the youngest player in the NBA, Windhorst was the youngest traveling NBA beat writer. In 2007 he co-wrote The Franchise: LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers with renowned sports columnist Terry Pluto. His writing at The Plain Dealer was honored by the United States Basketball Writers Association for Best Game Story in 2009, and by the Associated Press.
LeBron Raymone James (/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2009, 2010, and 2012 and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat.
James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.