Tag: Taylor Rooks

PHOTOS: Sports journalist Taylor Rooks through the years

American sports journalist and broadcaster Taylor Rooks is now one of America’s most well-known reporters. Check out of some her best pictures through the years below.

Sports journalist and broadcaster Taylor Rooks is now one of America’s most well-known reporters. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in the NBA, NFL and UFC, among other sports.

Although Rooks briefly modeled, she ultimately chose to focus on her career in sports journalism, helping to expand women’s interest in broadcasting.

Check out of some her best pictures through the years below:

Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr. sees himself as All-Defensive Team caliber ‘from day one’

Can Jabari Smith Jr. already play at an NBA All-Defensive Team level, starting with his first game in Houston? That’s the rookie’s goal, which he disclosed in a new interview with Taylor Rooks.

In a new interview from the 2022 NBA summer league in Las Vegas with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. isn’t holding back when it comes to goals for his rookie year.

“I’ve got a lot of time to prepare, and a lot of time to get my body stronger,” Smith told Rooks on Tuesday. “I’ve got a lot of time to mature, and learn more about this game. By the time this season starts, I feel like I should be All-Defensive Team caliber, from day one.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Rooks asked what he thinks being defended by Smith will feel like for other NBA players. Smith replied:

A bad dream. A nightmare. I’m not the quickest, but if you get by me, I’m 6-10, so you’re going to have to finish. You’re going to have find something to do with it.

And I do have good feet, so it’s tough. When I get stronger and even quicker, it’s going to be even more scary. I’m excited.

Smith went on to discuss a range of subjects with Rooks, including his unexpected draft-day slide to the Rockets at No. 3 in the first round and his perspective on Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren — who were the only players drafted ahead of him.

Scroll on for video clips of Smith addressing those subjects and more.

Seahawks WR DK Metcalf says he played through foot injury in 2021

The third-year wideout sat down with reporter Taylor Rooks to briefly discuss the process of his rehabilitation and his current state of mind.

After posting a picture of his left foot in a protective boot on Instagram, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf confirmed that he had played through an injury throughout the 2021 season and had surgery on his foot following its conclusion.

The third-year wideout sat down with reporter Taylor Rooks to briefly discuss the process of his rehabilitation and his current state of mind.

“I just started walking on it a couple days ago,” Metcalf said. “My rehab’s going to be like another month before I’m full go.”

Metcalf told Rooks that he kept quiet about his injury because it did not bother him enough to miss time on the field and he intended to wind down after the season ended.

“I don’t think it affected me that much. I missed a practice day a week when I found out what happened to my foot, but it really didn’t affect me that much.”

Metcalf is entering a contract year, so the Seahawks must make a decision on his future in the coming months. He will hopefully remain in the Emerald City, but he could ask for top dollar given his production over his first three seasons and we will see whether or not Seattle decides to pony up.

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WATCH: Tom Izzo surprises Michigan State superfan Michael B. Jordan with video, invite to East Lansing

WATCH: Tom Izzo surprises Michigan State superfan Michael B. Jordan with invite to East Lansing

In case you didn’t know, Michael Jordan is a huge fan of Michigan State basketball. No, not that MJ, the other one from Black Panther, Creed, and many other classic movies, Michael B. Jordan. Jordan has been seen rocking an MSU jersey on multiple occasions and supporting the program.

This week, Jordan was a guest on Taylor Rooks’ podcast for Bleacher Report, and she surprised him with a fun little message from Tom Izzo, inviting Jordan out for Midnight Madness or a big home game at the Breslin Center.

Watch it below:

You can watch the full interview here:

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Chris Paul joins CNN’s Don Lemon to talk voting, bubble advocacy, Trump

CNN’s Don Lemon spoke to Chris Paul and Taylor Rooks about the NBA bubble and player advocacy that took place inside.

On National Voter Registration Day, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul joined CITIZEN by CNN with Don Lemon and was joined by reporter Taylor Rooks.

They talked about the the group he co-chairs When We All Vote, advocacy in the NBA bubble and topics surrounding social injustice.

While the Thunder were in the bubble, Paul made sure to spend time during press conferences talking about about racial inequality and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

When Rooks asked him about it Tuesday, he pointed out that he was not the only one.

“There were a number of guys who spoke out on things, day in and day out,” he said, specifying Jaylen Brown, Andre Iguodala and CJ McCollum.

“The intensity of the game is real. Everything that goes into the game, the preparation, the practices, and all this different type of stuff, but guys – we were away from our families. And all of this stuff is going on, and it weighed on guys heavily.”

That was an important piece of Paul’s CNN interview. He pointed out that while they may be star athletes on the court, once they’re off, they’re normal people.

“If you saw Jamal Murray when he had that unbelievable game in the playoffs, he was in tears because we are human beings,” Paul said.

“Yes we’re talented, yes we like to play the game that we love, yes you see us on TV all the time, but as soon as these games are over, we go back to being regular people with our families.”

Because of that, what they see in the world weighs on them as much as it does people with normal 9-5 jobs. In the bubble, away from families, players had less to focus on and more time to discuss the world among themselves.

That’s something that helped these organized protests and strikes take place.

“What happens a lot of times during the NBA season is you play against guys on other teams, and after the game you say, ‘Alright man, how’s your family,’ and everybody just says ‘Good’ and you go separate ways,” Paul said.

“We really got a chance to connect in the bubble, we got a chance to really spend time with each other, we really got a chance to sit down at the table and figure out what we want our plan to be going forward.”

Lemon asked Paul about how he would respond to people who dislike the protests, including President Donald Trump, who, as Lemon noted, called Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who knelt during the National Anthem to protest police brutality “sons of (expletive).”

“It’s unfortunate cause the people will cheer for you while you’re playing the games, or while you’re running up and down the field or up and down the court, but I think what we have all come to understand is that we have to do what we think is right,” Paul said.

“You have to stand for something and at the end of the day when you have kids and different people watching, you understand that it’s bigger than what he’s saying and all the name calling.”

Lemon also asked Paul if he had a preference in the presidential election.

Paul did not answer directly, but instead said it’s “unbelievably important to respect the office.”

“When I was a young kid in school, one thing about the president – I didn’t know politics as a kid, but I knew if it was (George W.) Bush, if it was (Bill) Clinton, I respected the office. And I think that that’s very important for my kids, to make sure that they respect whoever is in office,” he said.

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