Frank Isola, Knicks beat writer for the NY Daily News, is hand-down my favorite sports journalist. Like Grantland’s Shea Soranno (more an author than journalist) and Bill Simmons (more sports-entity than journalist), Isola’s got the best blend of sports breakdown and wit in his writing. Frank Isola started on the Knicks beat for the New York Daily News in the fall of 1996, when he was 29 years old. Now, at 48, he has been covering the team longer than anyone else. He keeps his reporting straight-up, and doesn’t pull punches on his Twitter either.
In his article declaring the ’96 Bulls would beat the ’16 Warriors, Isola calls out a whole generation of basketball weighing in a debate they weren’t even alive to watch — in the first sentence. As for his actual analysis, he breaks down the match up, from starters, to bench, playing time, travel and rule differences between the two teams. He’s got quotes from players on both sides of the debate (like Steve Kerr, who is literally on both sides of the debate). The article ends with Isola pointing out that if LeBron, by himself, took the Warriors to six games, the Warrior wouldn’t stand a chance.
Isola is also known for his trademark sneak-disses towards Knicks management in his writing. When addressing the NBA trend towards resting star players , Isola point out how Knicks president Phil Jackson took a break during the middle of the season to visit Woodstock for a few days. Over his time covering the Knicks, he got on the team’s bad side. Isola has said the Knicks will not allow his or anyone else from the News to conduct one-on-one interviews with players or coaches. Still, Isola finds a away to deliver fair, balance and in-depth coverage of the team, all year.