Is Zach Lowe “America’s Best Sports Writer”?

If you’re a fan of the NBA, then you’re probably familiar with ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe who has been writing about the Association. He joined Grantland in 2012 and when ESPN put the kibosh on the site, he remained with the Worldwide Leader to cover the NBA. In addition to his articles, fans can see Lowe on ESPN’s daily NBA-centric show, The Jump hosted by Rachel Nichols.

Slate’s Josh Levin recently wrote a glowing piece about Lowe calling him “America’s Best Sports Writer” citing several of his stories and his podcast as evidence. Here’s an example of Levin waxing poetic about Lowe:

His columns are basketball tutorials, articles that draw on stats, video cut-ups, and interviews with players and coaches to teach you how the sport works. Lowe’s prose is clear, but it isn’t dry; his writing crackles with a kind of conspiratorial glee, like he can’t wait to share all the cool stuff he’s just figured out.

Levin adds:

Now more than ever, pro basketball is a national pastime. League Pass allows anyone to watch any game, and all the best highlights stream by on your Twitter feed even when your TV’s turned off. Zach Lowe, then, is a stand-in for a different kind of sports fan, one who’s at once more obsessive and more itinerant.

Levin admits that Lowe wouldn’t transcend past eras of journalism calling him “well-suited to journalism’s online age,” as he writes a plenty, hosts his own podcasts and tweets about the games he watches.

And Levin sums up his nomination of Lowe for his personal Hall of Fame this way:

Lowe’s work is a reminder that all is not lost. He is the sports writer smart fans deserve and a smart league helped create.

Is Lowe “America’s Best Sports Writer” as Levin claims? That’s for you to decide. In this era of online sites, social media and podcasting, Levin makes his argument. Who is your selection as “America’s Best Sports Writer”? Tell us in the comments below.

[Slate]