Although NBA superstar forward LeBron James had attained championship glory as a member of the Miami Heat, he felt a calling to come back to his hometown after four years away. James, who was a free agent following the 2013-14 season, decided to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on a two-year deal and placed the emerging team firmly under the national spotlight. Allie Clifton, who was working as the sideline reporter for Cavaliers broadcasts on FOX Sports Ohio at the time, perceived a palpable alteration in covering the team upon the return of James. Media members were granted access to sit inside daily practices for the Cavaliers, and she ultimately began to watch their drills, shoot-arounds and communicate with those on the court.
While the most visible part of her job was in front of the camera courtside at the arena delivering reports and updates during the game, her time at practice helped establish professional relationships with players, coaches and other team personnel. James, along with his teammates such as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, ultimately hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, consequently ending a 52-year championship drought for the city of Cleveland.
“It didn’t matter what level we were on,” Clifton said. “We were covering one of the hottest teams in the NBA – one of the most-talked about teams – and we had kind of a front-row seat to it day in and day out. It’s something so, so special that I will have for the rest of my life.”
In the year following the championship, Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson was planning to start a player-driven podcast with teammate Channing Frye and wanted to know if Clifton would be interested in hosting. At the time, she decided not to become involved with the show but quickly ended up changing her mind. Part of her initial hesitation came in being uncomfortable working with big personalities and developing her own voice on the medium. Looking back on the start of the venture though, deciding to take a leap of faith and combat her nerves turned out to be a career-altering decision.
“Just to be a part and find my role and find my space [and] find my voice – whatever it meant; whatever was necessary at the time – I did,” Clifton said. “…It’s partly leaning into that uncomfortableness of finding that comfort, but I had no choice, and I’m glad I had no choice because it’s certainly led to great things, and it’s been so worth it obviously.”
The early episodes of the Road Trippin’ podcast contained Jefferson and Frye’s teammates on the Cavaliers as guests, some of whom included LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith. Clifton edited the episodes herself and found built-in time and locations to record while covering the team. The show bills itself as the first player-driven podcast, a mode of production and delivery that has augmented in scope and prominence over the last seven years.
“I knew that if we cared enough about the product for us specifically with Road Trippin’, the potential, the energy is endless,” Clifton said. “And then when we got to 10, 20, 30 and you started to see just this wave of attention towards what we were giving; what our athletes and those on that team were willing to share, it makes total sense as to why athletes have gravitated towards the podcast space and have wanted to take the time to tell their side, their story [and] their narrative.”
Jefferson and Frye have since retired from playing in the NBA while Clifton has moved to Los Angeles, Calif. working as a studio host for Los Angeles Lakers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet. Even from a distance, the cast of the show has retained a strong rapport and allegiance to one another. In fact, the podcast recently inked a deal with Wondery and ThreeFourTwo Productions that will help facilitate additional growth with weekly episodes disseminated across a variety of platforms.
“When it comes to JJ Redick and ThreeFourTwo and those at Wondery, their résumé speaks for itself, and it’s second to none,” Clifton said. “Though I’m so appreciative of the stops that Road Trippin’ has made along the way from an independent space to different families, where we are now puts us in a position, I think, to be amplified and supported in the best way possible, and we are so excited.”
While Clifton has found success with her multifaceted role as a podcast and studio host within the sport of basketball, arriving at this point required enduring both trials and tribulations. Growing up as the daughter of educators, she initially focused her undergraduate studies at the University of Toledo in pedagogy, aiming to teach math and science for students between fourth and ninth grade. On the day before her senior year though, Clifton decided to deviate from that intention after taking a calculus examination and instead earned a dual degree in sports analysis and communications.
At the same time, she was a member of the school’s basketball team for four years and served as a co-captain from her sophomore to senior campaigns. Clifton honed her leadership skills while also battling adversity, made tangible through a left leg injury and plantar fasciitis. Once her undergraduate career ended, she worked as a graduate assistant in the school’s weight room where she helped athletes train and stay in shape.
“Being a part of a team, humility is always at the forefront, and it’s something that I’ve learned that goes even beyond the game,” Clifton said, “and so I think that’s one of my biggest qualities I lean into, and that has served me well as well.”
In selecting communications later in her college career, Clifton pursued the medium with an inexorable work ethic and drive to attain prosperity. Over the summer, she worked as a sideline reporter for the Toledo Mud Hens, the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, where she would host the Around the Bases pregame show and make contributions to the live broadcast.
At the same time, she worked as a sports feature reporter with 13 ABC Action News where she crafted enterprise stories for the broadcasts and wrote a blog titled “Clifton’s Corner” where she wrote opinions on the latest sports news. Additionally, she had interned in local news with WTOL where she watched colleagues Dan Cummins and Jordan Strack compile material for sports broadcasts but would sometimes be subjected to being cut out entirely because of other news.
“I think just doing those things and being a part of those opportunities, it also kind of showed me what I didn’t want,” Clifton said. “Just that from a standpoint of, ‘Maybe I need to kind of re-direct my path,’ but it kind of built me for that moment just being a part of all that and seeing the grind on a whole different scale and level, I think it just kind of helps to shape me [into] who I am today and how confident and, I guess, poised I am in the position that I am knowing that this is where I want to be.”
Much to Clifton’s surprise, she received a call from FOX Sports Ohio about an opening for a sideline reporter to cover the Cleveland Cavaliers. The regional sports network had received her résumé and demo reel from someone else, and she ended up landing the role. It was a fortuitous occurrence in that she had tried to land a job at numerous other outlets for which she was rejected.
“To hear it come from FOX Sports Ohio two hours away, I was over the moon [and] excited about it,” Clifton said, “and then I obviously went into the opportunity with my head down and with hopes to certainly [have] that be a continuation of the start, but what felt like a true start and what would end up being where I am now.”
While she was with the team, Clifton did not have an office in Cleveland and would work either from home, the practice gym or the arena. Having the chance to travel with and report on the Cavaliers as the team qualified for the NBA Finals for four consecutive seasons was a unique experience. Moreover, it created a bond with her colleagues that remains to this day even as the team has a different look and is looking to reestablish itself as a perennial contender.
“It makes me feel as close to being an athlete and a part of a team that I have been raised on for my entire life,” Clifton said. “Being a part of sports teams obviously is something that is so heavily a part of who I am, and I think it’s translated over into the professional side on such a deep level. There’s a passion; there’s a pride of covering your one individual team day in and day out.”
Although Clifton thrived in her job as a sideline reporter and proved to be an invaluable part of the Cavaliers broadcasts, she always wanted to explore becoming more versatile. ESPN commentator Doris Burke served as an inspiration to her throughout her youth as someone who could be analyzing, reporting or hosting on any given night. Once she was granted the opportunity to join Spectrum SportsNet in Los Angeles as a studio host on Lakers broadcasts, it represented a major-market opportunity that she ultimately decided not to pass up.
“I’ve always said it when it comes to me in this profession, ‘I’m not here to be famous; I’m here to be successful,’ and I know that within success comes different steps that at times can be uncomfortable, but I felt strongly about this move,” Clifton said. “I felt confident in this move that I had been put in a position by those I worked with in Cleveland.”
Over the last six seasons, Clifton has adapted to the new marketplace while hosting Access Sportsnet: Lakers. There are times when she reports for the pregame and postgame shows from Crypto.com Arena, and she has filled in for Mike Trudell in the sideline reporter position. Yet most of her time is spent within the studio, which conveys a different energy level than over 18,000 fans packed inside the arena.
“I don’t even care what time it is, I will take a shot of espresso at 10:00 at night to be able to have the right amount of energy and effort that a fan deserves at home watching our shows,” Clifton said. “So I just think that’s the one thing – it’s one of the big adjustments that Chris McGee, my co-host here – before I took the job, he prefaced with me because he had been around the arena and the energy that comes with that early in his career as well.”
This past February, Clifton made history when she filled in for Stu Lantz as the analyst for a Lakers live game broadcast, becoming the first woman to hold such a role in team history. Although she had worked as an analyst before, including filling in for Austin Carr while with the Cavaliers, the significance of the moment was not lost. Once the broadcast concluded, she took a look at her phone and instantly realized the magnitude of what she had just achieved.
“It took me several days to kind of calm down,” Clifton said. “I was pretty emotional for a while just because those moments, again, they mean so much and they matter for our industry – for women; for the young girls and boys that look up to all of us – and so to know that I handled it the way I did and was able to hopefully make people happy and pleased with it, it was pretty big.”
Working as a woman in sports media is a point of pride for Clifton that she does not take for granted. Clifton brings humility to the job and is intent on delivering the best show for the audience, but at the same time, she is cognizant of never actualizing contentment and advancing the accomplishments of previous generations.
“I will never shy away from challenges,” Clifton said. “I will not say that there are not challenges because there are, but what I will say is those that came before me, those that stand alongside of me and those that will come after me, that’s where my focus lies.”
Throughout the basketball season, Clifton is responsible for balancing hosting both on Spectrum SportsNet and with the Road Trippin’ podcast; however, there are times when the two ventures overlap. For example, the trio has recorded several episodes of the podcast within the Spectrum SportsNet studios, including interviews with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and James Worthy. Some of the episodes have also aired on the network in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, in addition to regional sports networks in New York, Denver, Arizona and Portland. Clifton is routinely monitoring the news cycle and watching games while maintaining a health and fitness regimen amid the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles.
“Besides the beautiful sunshine that is here every single day, it’s opportunity,” Clifton said. “I think that’s what it’s all about in our business, and for someone like myself who has asked that and who has hoped for that in my life, it’s here, and I would argue there’s no better place for it.”
Without having an embedded schedule and ability to work together in person, Clifton, Jefferson and Frye have nonetheless been able to keep their rapport alive. The fact that they still have the desire to effectuate the podcast through basketball discussion stands as corroborating evidence seven years in.
Success within the partnership with Wondery and ThreeFourTwo Productions will come through optimizing processes for growth and continuing to take strides in the space rather than eschewing innovation. The trio recently commenced their new partnership by interviewing ThreeFourTwo founder and ESPN analyst JJ Redick and continue to provide their insights and expertise pertaining to the sport.
“I think with the support of JJ’s company and of course Amazon and Wondery, it’s a whole [other] level,” Clifton said, “so I think it’ll just continue to amplify us in a way that we’re certainly ready for and excited about.”
Although the Lakers have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs, Clifton and the Road Trippin’ podcast continue to discuss and react to action from around the Association. Throughout the summer, she will continue recording the show while also contributing to Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA, serving as a studio host and analyst on Los Angeles Sparks WNBA game broadcasts and accruing respite. Working within a major market covering professional sports for the fans keeps her energized, and she looks to sustain the momentum into future windfalls with a purple and gold hue.
“I love being [in] my Spectrum SportsNet family,” Clifton said. “I love being a part of such a wonderful league in covering the NBA, and yeah, I’ll be ready for any opportunity in a moment that will come my way, but as of right now, I just take it one day at a time.”
