My name is Brendan Bowers. I have written two books. The first–Cleveland Is King (Triumph Books)–made the New York Times Best-Sellers List.
Cleveland is King is a tribute to the Cavaliers NBA championship in 2016–the city’s first since 1964. I am forever grateful to have worked with Josh Williams and the amazing team at Triumph Books on the project.
The title Triumph coined for the book was perfect. King James had crowned his hometown. The Land was the city of champions. Thanks to everyone who bought a copy. It was a special moment to see my book on the best-seller’s list.
I’m also forever grateful for LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, the entire 2015-16 Cavs roster for delivering that moment to the city. Coming back down 3-1. Battling an historically great team with HOF players like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
LeBron and Kyrie were truly special in that moment. The entire team was. An excerpt from Cleveland Is King is below with a shout out to Charles Dickens.
I’ve also been published in SLAM Magazine, KICKS Magazine, Dime Magazine, USA Today, and elsewhere.
One my favorite SLAM articles is with NBA player Matthew Dellavedova. The great photographer Jason Crocker came with us and captured amazing shots like this for the piece.
Matt and I were standing along the wall by the Cavs locker room one day. Delly was talking about the importance of a healthy diet while explaining his smoothie recipe.
I said we should go the Westside Market and buy the ingredients. He said sure, let’s go. Here’s a link to the article.
I got to meet and work with awesome writers and editors while I was contributing to SLAM. People like Ben Osborne, Ryne Nelson, Roger Bohn, and Ryan Jones helped me a lot.
Ben published my first print article in SLAM 160 (2012)–I was covering Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s NBA Draft Training camp in Cleveland.
The reason MKG held his training camp in Cleveland is because of Rich Paul. The founder of Klutch Sports, biggest sports agent in America, and subject of the best-selling book Lucky Me–was just starting out as an agent at the time.
LeBron was represented by CAA at this point. Rich was learning the agent industry under CAA’s umbrella. His first client was Tristan Thompson who went No. 4 to Cleveland the previous summer. His second client was Kidd-Gilchrist who went No. 2.
Rich and I played AAU basketball together in 9th grade. We stayed in touch over the years through hoops. He invited me to cover Mike’s camp and it was a great experience.
After a successful NBA career, Kidd-Gilchrist now dedicates his life to making a difference for the community through his Change and Impact Foundation.
Another special person I’ve been privileged to speak with over the years is former NBA All-Star Terrell Brandon. The Cavaliers great–who should have his number retired in Cleveland–blessed me with a jewel of a Kobe story during ASW in 2022.
The supremely talented Martin Rickman helped me with the article and published it here at Dime Magazine.
Basketball Interviews is the project I am working on now. The artistic tribute to LeBron, Kobe and Craig Sager that serves as the cover for the project is by the amazing Mike McGrath.
Chapters of Basketball Interviews look back at LeBron’s postgame interview with Jim Gray following the most highly-anticipated professional debut of all-time, along with Allen Iverson after Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
I started watching historic NBA games on YouTube and NBA TV during the pandemic. I became fascinated with the postgame television interviews that first described those moments.
Here is my favorite chapter on Kobe’s 81-point game.
Basketball Interviews (Coming Soon):
This book includes chapters on NBA GOATs like Kobe Bryant (81-point game), Michael Jordan (Double Nickel), Allen Iverson (Steps Into History), LeBron James (Debut of a King), Willis Reed (Willis Reed Game), and more.
These Hall of Fame basketball heros are met courtside for interviews with broadcasting legends like the late, great Craig Sager, Ahmad Rashad, Doris Burke, Howard Cosell, Lewis Johnson and others.
Basketball Script Writer
Contact me if you need a contributing writer for a basketball documentary, basketball book, basketball television series, or any hoops-related content project.
Thanks for visiting my website. I hope the ball keeps bouncing your way.