It isn’t often that one gets to live out their dream job. But for one lucky kid, it became a reality and a career.
When we’re young, we have dreams and aspire to do our dream job for the rest of our lives. For Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, his dream job came to him at the age of 12 and he hasn’t looked back since.
‘Scoop B’ hosted the Nets’ Slammin Planet. It was a radio show about the (then New Jersey) Nets aimed at kids. His charisma and personality made the show a success and launched his career in sports media and journalism.
That was 20 years ago and I decided to see how Robinson felt about it. So, I reached out to him via e-mail with a series of questions, which he was kind enough to answer. Here’s how it went.
Me: What was it like to get chosen to do the New Jersey Nets Slammin’ Planet show? Feelings? Emotions?
Scoop B: It was awesome. I’ll never forget the day I auditioned with hundreds of kids at Chelsea Piers. Funny thing? I wasn’t auditioning for a Nets show. I auditioned to do commercials with Crash Dummies as a radio personality with a radio station called 1660 AM AAHS World Radio. I got a call back for the second audition at Dangerfield’s Comedy Club, did what I needed to do and they liked what they saw.
I did one commercial with the Crash Dummies and around the same time, the Nets came calling when they were doing a rebrand with their new logo, during the John Calipari, Keith Van Horn, Sam Cassell, Kendall Gill and Jayson Williams era. It was an awesome opportunity. The Nets were good to me and it was a perfect fit.
Me: How was the experience of doing the show and meeting all the athletes/coaches/important people at such a young age?
Scoop B: It was a lot at one time, but my family made it work. There were many of nights that both my mom and pop spent running to get me after they were working to get me to the arena on game night. My youngest sister was a newborn when this whole journey started in 1997. I have to thank them all for that and the sacrifice.
As for the actual job, I interviewed players before and after games for my segment called Nets Court. So I’d pre taped interviews in the locker room, on the court and more for Slammin’ Planet. Anyone from David Aldridge, Dikembe Mutombo, former Atlanta Falcon Jamal Anderson and more were my guinea pigs.
I wasn’t star struck, but it was pretty cool to interview and meet athletes who in the 90s were your heroes like Michael Jordan, Shaq and Allen Iverson.
I also have to credit former Net, Albert King and radio personality, Lynn Wilson who I co-hosted the actual show with on Saturday mornings and current Nets radio play-by-play guy Chris Carrino who executive produced the Nets Slammin’ Planet show.
Me: Have you gotten used to meeting these types of people? (athletes, celebs, etc.)
Scoop B: Yes. Celebrities are people just like anyone else. They eat like us, put their pants leg on one at a time just like everyone else and more. I also think more than anything, when you treat athletes and celebrities like people rather who they are, they respect you more. It comes with age and maturity though.
Me: Once it was over, what made you want to continue in the world of sports journalism/media?
Scoop B: Well, even before the Nets I have been part of the actual culture of it. I’ve been around basketball all my life. I learned about it in Harlem spending my summers, days off from school and after school in City Wide Basketball at Riverbank State Park and also from my family owning two shoe stores in Harlem.
I’d see any and everybody in Harlem from jazz artist Dizzy Gillespie, Dominique Wilkins, LL Cool J and more. It was practice for the big dance. All of those experiences as a kid was nothing more than entrepreneurship, customer service, business 101, branding and interpersonal communication. If it wasn’t journalism, it would have been sales or something else. I’m just thankful that I found my niche.
Me: You went to college, like many people do. What were the challenges and benefits of going through a media program after your prior experience as a child?
Scoop B: Well, for my undergraduate career at Eastern University, they didn’t have a journalism program. They’re communication program was more theory based. To be honest with you, going to Eastern was a good decision.
I had a professor, Dr. Kevin Maness who pushed me. As a kid, things came easy for me because of my early start. He implored me to have both style and substance. While in college, he also gave me the ability to be creative and two independent studies that I did in his class changed my life.
One independent study examined the identity of being an African American male in the United States through the use of code switching. I used the television show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air as my muse.
For my senior thesis I examined hip hop’s influence on the NBA from 1996-2005 using Stuart Hall’s Cultural Studies Perspective. That time period encapsulated Allen Iverson’s rookie year through the Palace at Auburn Hills brawl in 2005.
In today’s economic and political climate, attributing books like Bill Rhoden’s 40 Million Dollar Slaves, the academic work of Robin Means Coleman and familiar oneself with Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers was a great investment to my career.
Me: You mentioned Dr. Leonard Jamison as one of your mentors. What has he meant to you and your career and do you have any other mentors you want to mention?
Scoop B: The guy literally saved me from getting kicked out of school. I struggled academically in college. Being the cute kid during the Slammin’ Planet days doesn’t mean a hill of beans when a paper is due.
He held me accountable and I worked in his office for two summers during the day and at night, I took night classes at Community College of Philadelphia to get my grades up. The guy literally would come to my dorm room and knock on my door to make sure I was awake in the morning to go to work and that I was studying and completing my Spanish homework.
I’ve had mentors in different stages of my life. My late uncle, Kevin McGill, my childhood mentor at my church, Abe Alston, YES Network’s Ian Eagle, Fox Sports 1’s Chris Broussard and Tony Culpepper, who gave me my first job out of college as a lecturer at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Me: You are now a mentor yourself. What projects are you currently working on mentor-wise?And why do you feel it is so important to continue to pass on your experience and knowledge with the future generations?
Scoop B: The higher that you go up on the elevator, it is your responsibility to send it back down. You didn’t get here by yourself. It’s important to give back. Honestly, speaking at high schools and colleges is on the itinerary from now through April. I enjoy it too.
I remember being the kid in school seeing people coming to my class and speak and they weren’t always transparent or they were a bit dry. Today’s student knows how to google and they want to know whether you know the latest 21 Savage and Cardi B lyrics. It’s cool to mentor because honestly it is your civic duty and I treasure the opportunity to do so.
Me: Did you ever think your career would be where it is now?
Scoop B: Honestly, I’m still growing. But I’m thankful that I’ve been able to do it my way by infusing sports, music, fashion and culture. I’ve done appearances on New York Fashion Week runways with Volare Brand and with that experience have launched my own Scoop B Apparel line with Wooter Apparel which will be available for the Christmas shopping season.
Additionally, the Scoop B Radio Podcast has been booming off of the ability to connect with both the interviewee and the listener. Too $hort telling Scoop B Radio about Jay-Z remaking his Blow The Whistle song to entice LeBron to come to the Nets in 2010 during his free agency period?
Kenny “The Jet” Smith telling Scoop B Radio that the 1994 Houston Rockets could beat the ‘94 Chicago Bulls had MJ not retired? These are narrative that people want to hear. My career is still a work in progress, but in life we are always striving to be better and I just enjoy putting in the work.
Me: What are you currently working on? And anything new that we can expect from you in the near future?
Scoop B: Running my own Scoop B brand. Scoop B Radio is doing well! We’re close to 2 million hits for the year. It’s a time capsule of interviews dating from my childhood to present day. Former Nets Jayson Williams and Scott Burrell made the cut from the past.
More current interviews include former Notre Dame football coach, Lou Holtz, Bay area rap legend Too $hort, NBA Hall of Famer, Allen Iverson and TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith. We’ve gotten viral hits from: New York Post, Forbes, Bro Bible, COMPLEX, Billboard and been mentioned on television via ESPN’s The Jump with Rachel Nichols.
Additionally, we recently launched our Scoop B and Scoop B Radio apparel line via the Wooter Apparel Brand. The rollout included trendy shirts and hoodies with catchphrases. Black Friday sales exceeded expectations!
As a managing editor and columnist at RESPECT Magazine, I’m excited to be part of a winning squad. We’ve been in the lab curating easily digestible content. The opportunities are endless.
Me: What is your best advice to someone who is trying to have a career in sports journalism/media?
Scoop B: Don’t take no from someone who is not qualified to tell you yes and be mindful of a person who tells you that you can’t do something. The person who tells you that you can’t was scared to take a risk themselves so they put that on you because misery loves company.
Me: What do you want to accomplish/where do you see yourself in the next 20 years?
Scoop B: Just to be the best. When it is all said and done I will be mentioned among the greats in television, print, radio and digital space. Walter Cronkite, Ian Eagle, Oprah, Peter Jennings, Jemele Hill, Stuart Scott, Ernie Johnson, Tom Brokaw and Ed Bradley.