Name Mike Wise | Role Writer | |
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Books Just Ballin': The Chaotic Rise of the New York Knicks Profiles | ||
Mike Wise is a senior writer for The Undefeated, a digital property of ESPN intersecting sports, race and culture.
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Career
Wise was an award-winning sports columnist with The Washington Post from May 2004 to December 2014. In addition, from 2009 to December 2012, Wise also hosted "The Mike Wise Show" on WJFK-FM.
He is best known for his outspoken advocacy against Native American mascots in sports, especially the Washington Redskins, his basketball coverage and his portraits of athletes and their psychological pasts. Wise was previously at The New York Times for 10 years, where he covered the New York Knicks, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and many of the nation's major sporting events. At the Post and the Times, he has covered the NBA Finals, World Series, multiple Super Bowls, an America's Cup in New Zealand and seven Olympic Games.
During an August 2010 segment on his radio show, Wise tried to mock modern day journalism's lack of sourcing and fact-checking by deliberately posting an inaccurate report about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Twitter. Because he had used his Washington Post Twitter account, the Post suspended him for a month.
Other media
Wise is the co-author of two books: 2001's Shaq Talks Back, with Shaquille O'Neal, a New York Times bestseller; and 1999's Just Ballin' – the Chaotic Rise of the New York Knicks, with New York Daily News reporter Frank Isola. His national television appearances include CNN, MSNBC, The Charlie Rose Show, PBS NewsHour, The Today Show and Good Morning America.
Selected awards
Wise won the 2006 Associated Press Sports Writers first-place Feature Story Award for a portrait of NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas and the mother who abandoned him. He also won the 2009 Associated Press Sports Writers first-place Feature Story Award for a profile of hockey enforcer Donald Brashear.
Personal life
Wise was raised in Northern California and Hawaii and is a graduate of California State University, Fresno.
In January 2008, Wise and his dog were running along a frozen canal in Georgetown when his dog fell through the ice. Wise also fell through the ice trying to save his dog, and would have died if a stranger had not pulled him out. Wise later found the person, a George Washington University Law School student named Jason Coates, and wrote a story about their experiences in The Washington Post Magazine.
In June 2010, Wise married Christina Lohs. They have two boys. His father Roger, in a similar fashion before him, was a writer for the San Jose Mercury News and an editor for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.