Michelle Smith, senior contributor at The Next, was named a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Award by the Basketball Hall of Fame over the weekend. On Wednesday’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Michelle joins SFGATE sports editor Alex Simon to discuss what the award means to her and much more.
Michelle recently received the prestigious Curt Gowdy Award, which honors excellence in broadcasting and journalism. She received the news during a call from the president of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on a Wednesday, with the public announcement made two days later. “It was a surreal phone call to get,” she said.
The recognition means more to Michelle because of the support from colleagues and coaches in the women’s basketball community, including longtime mentor and Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer. VanDerveer, who was a key figure in Michelle’s career, was there to celebrate the achievement alongside other influential figures in the sport.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Later, Michelle and Alex discuss the Golden State Valkyries, the new WNBA team debuting in the 2025 season. The Warriors’ ownership group, which owns the Valkyries, initially believed that their state-of-the-art facilities would be a significant draw for players, assuming that the prestige of their arena and resources would make them stand out in the WNBA. However, as more teams are now building similar top-tier facilities, Michelle noted that “other people are building facilities… and free agents are gravitating towards specific teams for a reason,” such as the attractions of places like Indiana and Phoenix.
While the Warriors’ facilities in Oakland and San Francisco are beautiful, the challenge of constantly crossing the bridge between the two locations, along with the high costs of parking and transit, may make it less appealing for players. As Michelle highlighted, “it’s not just a bridge right away… traffic can sometimes just be amazing.” This logistical issue may affect the team’s ability to attract big-name free agents in the long term.