Growing up in Van Wert, Ohio, Allie Clifton was destined to be a teacher.
Well, that’s what was supposed to happen when you come from a family full of educators.
So, when she went off to college at the University of Toledo, her major was Education 4th Grade to 9th Grade and that was her focus all the way until her final semester.
“I wasn’t entirely happy about that direction and that career for myself,” said Clifton, studio host for Los Angeles Lakers basketball on Spectrum SportsNet.
Clifton was also a basketball star at Toledo where she earned her undergraduate degree in 2010. Then she went to graduate school to earn her Masters. That’s when her career goals took a fast break in another direction…towards sports broadcasting.
Having played basketball since she was a little girl, becoming a broadcaster and covering basketball for a living turned out to be her true destiny.
“I lean so much on what I was as a hooper and an athlete that I’m not surprised that it’s something that’s made me very happy for sure,” said Clifton who is also a color analyst for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.
“I’m someone that prides myself a lot in having a feel and an understanding of having been there before and that largely speaks to working in the hoops space.”
Clifton has worn a lot of hats during her broadcasting career with experience as a sideline reporter, studio host, and game analyst and that has earned her the title of being a versatile sports broadcaster. Regardless of what she has done or what she is doing, Clifton pours all of her heart in soul into the task at hand.
Before moving to Los Angeles, Clifton was a sideline reporter for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“They often say ‘you got the best seat in the house’ and I can’t argue that,” said Clifton of her time with the Cavs. “You’re right up in it…the action…the entertainment…you have a feel…there’s different relationships that you’re able to build in that space. The role is not a whole lot of talking. You have less time to get your points across, deliver the information and storytelling.”
Now based in Southern California, Clifton has been able to build her resume and taken on some new challenges and opportunities including her transition to the studio and game broadcasts.
“The majority of what I do is in studio with the Lakers so we’re a bit more removed from the live action as it goes on,” said Clifton. “From an analyst position, that’s where I really tap into the 15 plus years of being a basketball player and being able to talk about it in a different realm.”
With every challenge that’s come her way, including her primary role as pre-game and post-game host for Lakers telecasts, Clifton continues to live by her motto that has helped her find success at every step of her broadcasting career.
“Finding comfort in the uncomfortable,” said Clifton who fondly recalls how it all started for her in sports broadcasting.
That start was in Toledo working for a local outlet BCSN where Clifton called high school and college games as a color analyst. After earning her Masters in 2012, she spent the summer working for the ABC affiliate in Toledo doing feature reporting on sports and news.
Then came the moment when she knew what her future needed to be.
As a 22-year-old, she went to sleep on a Saturday night because she had to wake up early the next morning to go to work. Her assignment that day was not one that any reporter wants to take on.
“I delivered three straight hours of content on a double-homicide murder in Blissfield, Michigan,” recalled Clifton. “It was then that it was so eye-opening sad that I realized where my direction needed to be pointed and that was sports.”
That opportunity would soon come knocking on Clifton’s door.
Over the course of a year and a half, Clifton sent out somewhere between 75 and 100 resume feels to any contact that she could either think of or find on the internet.
“I would be told no,” said Clifton. “I would be told no but this. How about you try this?”
And she thought “(it’s) cool. I’m an athlete. I get it.”
But then came the afternoon in 2012 while she was at work when she received a call from a contact that she didn’t have in her phone.
The voice on the phone was Bob Pennell from Fox Sports Ohio. There was an opening for a sideline reporter for the Cleveland Cavaliers and wanted to know if she was interested.
“They received my resume and my reel from someone (else),” said Clifton. “My stuff ended up making its rounds back to Ohio. When he called me, I remember picking up the phone and answering it and hearing him say that and there was about 15 seconds of silence where he had to say Allie are you still there? I was just blown away.”
She got the job, but those first two years didn’t go very well from a basketball standpoint as the Cavaliers won 24 and 32 games respectively. The first year was so difficult for Clifton that she didn’t think there would be a second.
“I actually thought after my first season I don’t know if I’m going to make it in this business,” said Clifton. “It’s different. It’s challenging. I don’t know if I’m equipped. I had a long summer, came back, grinded, really fell in love with it my second year and then it was the third year when Lebron returned. Just from that moment, it was the most exhausting yet rewarding experience.”
And then in 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship.
Clifton traveled with the Cavaliers during her eight-year run as their sideline reporter and was on hand in Oakland for game seven of the finals against the Golden State Warriors. She had a wristband that allowed her to be on the court for a post-game walk-off interview, but a thought came into her mind.
Remember, she’s Ohio girl covering an Ohio team that just won a championship.
“I looked at my producer and I said can we just do our work in the locker room?,” said Clifton. “He just kind of laughed and that’s how it happened. You take in those moments. Those are the moments that stick with me. It’s why you do it. It’s why we do this as professionals.”
It was during her time in Cleveland when another wonderful opportunity came her way.
The season following the Cavaliers championship, Clifton was covering a practice when Richard Jefferson came up to her with the idea of doing a podcast.
“He said ‘Hey Allie I want to do this podcast and I’d love for you to host it what do you think?’,” said Clifton. “And I originally said no. I wasn’t sure I wanted to have my voice out there and be a part of the wonderful and very outspoken personalities. I was nervous. We did a test podcast in Utah and then we just decided to go it.”
And the Road Trippin podcast, hosted by Clifton, Richard Jefferson, and Channing Frye was born. Over 200 episodes later, the podcast is still going strong and since Clifton has been in Los Angeles, she has added the “Lakeshow” podcast to her resume.
“(Road Trippin has) been something that has just made me uncomfortable in the best ways using my voice and being a part of great discussions,” said Clifton.
In order to be successful in sports media, a good reporter has to create relationships and in order to do that, you have to have in-person access. There really is no substitution for that, but everyone in the sports media industry, as well as news reporters had to pivot in a very big way during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In-person access was replaced by Zoom meetings and conference calls while much of the play-by-play was done remotely from a studio.
And now, thankfully, that in-person access is back so Clifton is not about to take normality, or whatever the new normal is, for granted.
“I’m always reminded of what everyone went through, not just us in the media but what world as a whole went through,” said Clifton. “To see how far during the course of all of that to where we are now…”
Clifton was back in Crypto.com Arena over the summer to call WNBA games but it’s only been in the last ten days or so since she has returned to the arena for Lakers games. The last time she had been in the building for a Lakers game was the weekend before the pandemic started.
“It was still Staples Center,” said Clifton. “It had been that long. You can’t take the little moments where get to either pass a player, pass a coach, pass another media member or someone from around the league in the hallway and just have a chance to say hi face to face. It’s just so important to what we do in telling the stories the right way and doing our jobs to the best of our abilities.”
Clifton has accomplished a lot in sports broadcasting, but what is next for her? What does she want to do that she hasn’t already done?
“From a professional standpoint, the one thing Los Angeles has is a lot to offer,” said Clifton. “I have a colleague that just actually left and earned an opportunity in the entertainment space with Extra. If there’s an opportunity outside of my current gig that I love so much, maybe to just add some entertainment.”
Allie Clifton has had the opportunity to say “yes” to a lot of opportunities in broadcasting over the years and that has, in a way, led her back to what her original career goal was and that was to be an educator like so many others in her family.
No, she’s not leaving broadcasting to be a teacher, but she does have some words of wisdom for those starting out in the business.
“One of my biggest pieces of advice for young ones coming is never say no,” said Clifton. “As long as you have the time and you can put in your best with each opportunity, do it.”
And that’s what Allie Clifton has done on the basketball court, in school, and in sports broadcasting.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
