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In my first of many interviews I caught up with Greg Tanner, a great friend and recent editor of Fadeawa the UK’s first basketball magazine. Media credentials around his neck and always with his camera you can find Greg at the heart of Europe’s biggest basketball event, from Euroleague to Midnight Madness you name it – he’s there.
I asked him about all things basketball, read on to see what he had to say.
When I heard you were dropping a magazine I thought this is going to be a very good look and you were undoubtedly the right guy to do this. However, in my mind I could predict what some of the features would be i.e Midnight Madness, Pops Mensah-Bonsu or Luol Deng and Stuart schooling Devin Harris. Obviously there are only so many articles you can write on both these guys, do you see a broad amount of material in the UK basketball scene to draw from?
There are lots of stories out there that we can do.
First of all, regarding Luol – I’m really rather bored of reading articles about him. That’s nothing to do with him, it’s to do with the British media – it’s like Lu is the only story. The only time you ever see British basketball in the newspaper or wherever is when it’s a piece about Deng. I deliberately didn’t do anything on him in Fadeaway issue one for that very reason. It’s almost like an unwritten rule in British basketball coverage – “Thou shalt do a Luol Deng piece”.
Plus, he’s had a bad season and there isn’t a lot to say. Pops on the other hand had a brilliant story this year. You’re right about predicting Midnight Madness and my brother being in there – those were kinda no-brainers. But obviously Stuart Tanner v Devin Harris can’t be done again (unless we get a re-match this summer!!!) There are tonnes of stories to be done though – and all sorts of ballers out there with interesting stories…so keep reading!
Lebron James graces the cover of Fadeaway and you have an article about Pops Mensah-Bonsu as well as Team GB. What will be the main angle of Fadeaway, to report on American and English basketball together or to focus on one specifically?
The angle is global basketball, with a British perspective. NBA will make up a large chunk of the mag – but so too will things about Team GB, the BBL, British players etc. And there will streetball features, a few lifestyle bits and pieces etc.
How then does Fadeaway differ from other competing basketball magazines out there notably Slam, Bounce and Dime?
Fadeaway is written for a British audience – and will be covering things you’ll never catch in those mags (like, as mentioned, Team GB, BBL etc).
During the mid-nineties Michael Jordan had created a massive global brand and interest in basketball in the UK spawned television shows like Basketball 24/7 and magazines like Basketball XXL. Since Jordan retired basketball’s popularity in this country has waned and those shows and magazines fell by the wayside. You obviously feel that there is a viable market for a new UK basketball magazine. To what extent do you feel the rise of UK stars like Deng and Mensah-Bonsu are creating resurgence in the sport’s popularity in this country?
You’re right – basketball really enjoyed a high during those MJ (second-coming) years. That’s the time I actually got into basketball – and the Channel 4 coverage was fantastic. I know a lot of people got into ball simply as a result of those programmes.
And yes – in recent years basketball hasn’t been on terrestrial TV which has hurt the sport over here. And whilst there are very interesting things going on in the League at the moment (Kobe, LeBron etc) for years after MJ left the Bulls it felt like things were on a bit on a low.
Lu has created some buzz about basketball in this country. But I think what will boost the sport’s popularity over here more than anything will be the success of Team GB. If we’re winning on an international level, we’re surely going to get into the paper and on TV. And I think the Olympics will really boost the sport’s profile too – Team USA and all their stars coming over will capture everyone’s attention…and if Team GB are there too, I think there’s a good chance the general public will check out this whole “basketball thing”.
NBA broadcasting rights in the UK have been somewhat underused by Sky Sports and Five TV in past years, with only one or two games shown per week. The recent transfer of rights to Setanta was hailed by some as “rescuing” the coverage in this country. However, with Setanta’s impending downfall where do you see the future of NBA basketball broadcasting in this country? Do you even see television coverage as an important area given the recent availability of NBA’s online League Pass to the UK?
The playoffs getting onto Setanta was welcome – but bare in mind there are only like 1.2 million Setanta subscribers in Britain…so it’s not like it was going out to the masses like it used to on C4. If Setanta goes, I don’t think it’ll make the slightest bit of difference to basketball over here to be honest.
I think basketball coverage on mainstream TV is vital to getting people interested in the game here. Sure, having League Pass is really handy…but only fairly serious basketball fans are going to pay for that. To get new people involved, they need to be able to see it on TV for free – not on subscription-based channels.
You previously interviewed Washington Huskies forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning before his move there. Did you follow him and other UK prospect Eric Boateng in the NCAA tournament this year? What would you say about their performance and do you see them achieving the same success as Luol Deng?
I read a few bits and pieces about Matthew this season…but to be honest, I can’t say I know a whole lot about how either he or Eric did this year. Do I see them achieving the same success as Luol? Well…anything is possible – and Matthew has crazy potential. But bare in mind that Lu was second only to LeBron is terms of high school rankings in his senior year, and he played far more of a key role at Duke for the one season he was there than Matthew has at UW.
How far around the globe has your passion for basketball and journalism taken you? Is there anywhere you haven’t been and would like to go and out of the places you’ve been where did you experience the best atmosphere?
Due to my fear of flying, I’ve not made the most of opportunities offered to me and have stuck to Europe for my basketball travels. Obviously I’d like to get out to the States to sample the NBA, March Madness and some authentic streetball. I’ll just have to grit my teeth and bare the flight!
The best atmosphere? Well, Quai 54 in Paris is always good – the first year I went in 2006 was something special. The Euroleague finals in Athens was pretty mental too. Panathinaikos won the whole thing and the fans were absolutely wild!
Also, I took a bunch of guys to Tel Aviv in 2006 to do a show at some multi-millionaire’s kid’s birthday. They’d hired out the city’s main arena, there were pyrotechnics, lightshows, live music, break dancers, hundreds and hundreds of guests…free bar! Absolute insanity,
Do you have any advice for people who aspire to be the editor of their own magazine? To what extent has your University degree helped you along your current path?
Advice? Boy, I don’t know really! I’ve only just become the editor of a mag myself! My degree (English Lit with French) has only helped in so much as it got me in the door with my journalism career. Arts degrees show employers you have a certain level of intelligence…and enough discipline to see it through – but not a whole lot else. It’s not like a science degree or something where you’re learning really specific stuff you’ll need to do your future job.
When I first got into streetball you were always at events with your camera, why did you prefer filming streetball rather than playing?
Because I’m a shit baller! lol
I’m far better behind the camera, or sat at a computer writing articles and editing videos, than I am at hooping. I actually managed to make a difference by running streetball.co.uk – I would never have achieved shit if I’d been out there playing instead.
Before basketball247.co.uk you ran streetball.co.uk, what happened to the old boards and videos?
Basically, I got tired of doing the site. I hit 30 and thought “I’m too old to be running around filming streetball all over the place”…I needed to focus on my proper career, my girlfriend etc. Plus whilst the whole “streetball” thing was hot in like 2001, 2002…by 2007 it’d had its run, you know what I mean?
I let streetball.co.uk slowly die. The boards got flood by spambots so I closed them down. A lot of the old videos are on YouTube. I’ve still got them all on my computer as well.
Every baller now looks forward to summer because of Midnight Madness. However, before Midnight Madness there was Rough and Ready and Street All Stars organised by yourself. Could we see an SAS All-Star game this summer or in the future and what’s the reason for you taking a break from it?
Again, SAS has had its day. The first few years I did it were amazing – people had never really seen anything like it in the UK before and Chessington used to get packed.
In the days after the first one, in 2002, I literally had people emailing me saying it was the best day of their lives!
But gradually it started getting a bit “same-y” and the crowds diminished.
We either didn’t charge…or charged like £2 or £3…so we lost money on it. That said, I didn’t mind as it helped SBUK’s rep and gave us loads of good footage.
But it did reach a point where I couldn’t be arsed to do it anymore.
And finally three reasons why we should go out and cop Fadeaway Magazine?
In terms of physical quality it is the best basketball magazine I’ve ever seen. Standard.
It has articles of relevance to British fans that you simply aren’t going to see elsewhere.
You’ll be doing your bit to help support the game here in the UK – god knows, we need it!
Fadeaway is avaliable at Borders across the country. Check their site Fadeaway Magazine and also Basketball 24/7 for more great features and basketball news.
