It’s all starts with Henry Abbott.
I’m an NBA fan. Have been since I was a kid.
A few years ago (has it been six already?), sportswriting on the web got a lot more interesting, when Henry made a splash with his TrueHoop blog. At the time, TH was a great source for clearheaded writing on the sport, along with a newly-growing respect for advanced statistics. Moneyball was making its presence felt in baseball, and Henry was at the front of popularizing the search for new ways to look at the NBA game.
I used to love TrueHoop.
I even loved it when it got bought by ESPN. I loved it when the TrueHoop Network started, which legitimized hardworking NBA bloggers around the league and connected me to many good sources of basketball thinking. (These days, though, I think SB Nation has a stronger set of communities around its NBA content.)
What I didn’t realize was that while he was still taking the “objective” viewpoint, Henry had let a few things seep into his writing, the worst of which is selective context and an unrevealed bias.
I don’t mind bias. I love reading Bill Simmons. I know exactly where he stands on teams from Boston and teams from Los Angeles.
And here’s my bias: I love the Lakers. I love Kobe Bryant. There, you heard it here first.
What Henry has never been able to do is say these words: “I love the Portland Trailblazers. Because of that I hate Kobe Bryant, and the Lakers. I love advanced statistics. Particularly when they help me bludgeon Kobe’s reputation. Because of that, I really appreciate LeBron James. LeBron’s advanced statistics are out of this world. And I don’t mind playing devil’s advocate to folks who criticize the Heat, even if I don’t apply the same intent to find fresh angles when it comes to my calcified feelings about Kobe and the Lakers.”
And: “I am fully aware that mentioning Kobe helps drive traffic to TrueHoop, and I have let that additional factor get ahead of my desire to question my own views.”
This blog is going to be about the NBA. I will always tell you my biases up front. I will question my own positions. I will be willing to change my mind. If I receive thoughtful criticism, I will gladly respond to it.
In the meantime, I’ll be picking a very public target to focus on.
It’s all starts with Henry Abbott.
Wrong Again Hen 
I LOVE your website. I agree Abbott is a biased writer who needs to be fired from ESPN. Every article I read from him are for pure amusement and a good laugh. I’ll be a constant visitor to your site. Keep up the good work.
Thanks. He disappeared for a while but unfortunately it was just a vacation.
This is awesome. I have been ranting in the comments section of Truehoop for months – as you say, what drives me crazy about Abbott is not that he is biased, or lacks perfect insight. That is too much to expect of anyone. But he categorically refuses to admit bias, somehow has stolen the claim of being an advanced stats guy even though he has never developed any such analysis in his life and is generally an intellectually dishonest pompous a-hole. You are doing a public service with this website. It is good. It may even be the good.
Thanks for the support. I fight the fight for you.