Ann Meyers Drysdale and Stephanie Ready make broadcasting history
It hardly made major national waves, but it doesn’t make it any less cool. Lining up on either side of the scorer’s table to call Wednesday night’s Suns/Hornets game were color commentator Ann Meyers Drysdale, and color commentator Stephanie Ready. The Phoenix and Charlotte (respectively) analysts are both women, and this was the first time such an occurrence has happened in the history of modern pro North American sport.
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Flipping back and forth between the “Charlotte” and “Phoenix” options on the League Pass dial may not have tipped you off about the historical bent, as both Meyers Drysdale and Ready have been calling Suns and Hornets/Bobcats games for years on a part-time basis. Ready was recently elevated to (deserved) full-time status, however, and the nearly-anonymous historical pairing with the Basketball Hall of Famer wasn’t lost on Ready:
“I love that,” Ready said of the normalcy. “That’s how it should be.”
[…]
“It’s so huge for me to share with her of all people was very emotional for me,” Ready said. “I tell this every time I see her, that I thank her because she did so much for my career because, growing up, there were not a lot of women doing things in sports at all in any capacity – TV, management or anything. She’s done it all. She gave it a face. She made it a reality for people like me to have dreams and goals. No matter how slim the chances are, when it’s been done once, there’s at least a path to follow.”
The two posed for cameras and sat for an interview prior to the game:
Phoenix, behind a torrent of three-pointers, won the game 111-102. And, as things should be, many on NBA Twitter hardly noticed as two different women called the action for their respective local affiliates.
Some young woman and aspiring broadcast journalists in the audience may have noticed, though, and that’s what counts above all.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
