Lang Whitaker is an American author and

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

who works for the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

as the General Manager of Grizz Gaming, and a contributor to Grind City Media, as well as a contributor to

GQ Magazine ''GQ'' (formerly ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and ''Apparel Arts'') is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles on ...

Career

From 2000–2013, Whitaker worked as a writer and editor for ''

SLAM Magazine ''Slam'' is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994. History ''Slam'' was launched in 1994 as a basketball magazine that combined the sport with hip hop culture at a time when the genre was becoming increasingly popular. It wa ...

'', a hip-hop-influenced basketball magazine. From 2006–2008, Whitaker was the editor-in-chief of Striker, an American soccer magazine. From 2008–10, Whitaker wrote a weekly column for Hawks.com, the official site of the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

. During the 2008–09 NBA season, he did color commentary on several radio broadcasts of Hawks games. In 2010, he was one of the co-authors of the book "FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History." In 2011, he co-founded the sports website

The Classical The Classical was a sports website featuring long-form sports articles. Described as the sports equivalent of The Awl, the site was launched in December 2011 by several members of the basketball blog ''FreeDarko'', including Bethlehem Shoals and Er ...

alongside FreeDarko founder Bethlehem Shoals and several others. From 2011–2013, he was '' GQs NBA writer for GQ.com. Since 2015, Whitaker has written regularly about cooking and food for GQ. From 2013–2017, he worked for NBA Digital, writing for NBA.com, co-hosting the Hang Time Podcast, and appearing on NBA TV.

Personal life

He attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and has written for magazines, newspapers and made guest appearances on television. He is an avid fan of Atlanta's three major professional sports franchises: basketball's

, baseball's

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, and football's

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

as well as English soccer team

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Whitaker has also been written about in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

and The New York Times. He appeared as a cultural commentator on VH1's series "

I Love the New Millennium ''I Love the New Millennium'' is a mini-series and the tenth installment of the '' I Love the...'' series focusing on the 2000s and premiered on VH1 Monday, June 23, 2008. Each night, from Monday to Thursday, two of the eight episodes premiered, ...

." His memoir about growing up as a fan of the Atlanta Braves and Bobby Cox, titled "In the Time of Bobby Cox: The Atlanta Braves, Their Manager, My Couch, Two Decades, and Me," was released in March 2011, from Scribner.

References

External links

SLAMonline The LinksThe Classical-Lang Whitaker
American sportswriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-sportswriter-stub