Seth Davis
NBABy Alex Putterman on

Seth Davis is not letting the end of his time at Sports Illustrated prevent him from covering the NBA Draft.

The longtime college basketball writer has created a temporary website on Medium, called Seth’s Draft House, where he says he’ll share new draft-related content every day through the June 22 event.

As of this writing, the site has published four articles: a video breakdown of Markelle Fultz, a mock draft from Sam Vecenie, a humorous rumination on “how capricious the NBA draft can be” by John Feinstein and a collection of anonymous scouting reports on top prospects compiled by Davis.

Davis made clear Thursday on Twitter that this project will last him only through the draft and that afterward he’ll need a new job.

The latest

Davis was laid off at Sports Illustrated last month, along with, reportedly, four other staffers. On Tuesday, he wrote a goodbye column on SI.com in which he thanked the publication for his 22 years there and explained his next step.

As to what that my future will entail, well, you guys know me: I dream big and plan bigger. I will continue my television work for CBS, CBS Sports Network and Big Ten Network, but I fully intend to keep writing. So as I leave this place after 22 years of employment that never felt like work, I want to signal a final clarion call: Reports of the death of sports journalism are greatly exaggerated. Technology may be advancing at warp speed, but one thing that will never change is the intense passion felt by sports fans. Where there is passion, there is curiosity. I fully believe that if you give fans good reporting, smart writing and a quality user experience, they will want to read your words as fast as you can write team. Not only do I believe that to be true, I intend to prove it.

So yes, I will be writing, somewhere. When I do, I’d like to think that it will end up in the hands of a young reader, and that his passion for journalism might be piqued. I’d like to imagine that perhaps he will check out the byline and wish he could be like me. But the truth is, I still want to be like him.

Many people who leave a job and don’t have another lined up would probably spend a week on the couch watching daytime television, so props to Davis for getting a new venture up and running right away.

In a tweetstorm Thursday, Davis emphasized that he wants to mentor young writers, inviting anyone interested in contributing to the site to email him.

It’s a bit surprising that Medium agreed to host Davis’ site given that the platform is moving away from publishing and recently saw The Ringer defect to Vox, but apparently they were willing to take on a short-term partnership with Davis.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

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