Blazers Beat Writer Jason Quick Discusses Leaving the Job

Blazersedge: What were the factors that led you to ask off of the Blazers beat over the years?

Jason Quick: "I think it had become stale to me a little bit in a way. I think I just lost faith in a lot of the NBA. I've seen a lot of bull----. From putting your heart and soul into a player and believing him when he talks about kissing his kids at night and all that, then you write that, and the next road trip you see him with somebody that's not his wife, basically getting it on. That's disheartening to me. There's a lot of times where you hear a bunch of bull---- from these guys, it's hard to believe anything.​

Sounds about right.

Blazersedge: Any other reflections on why now is the time to move on?

Jason Quick: "One thing that really hurt was last summer. As far as, 'Why am I doing this? Why am I spending so much time...?'

"Nicolas Batum was probably one of my favorite players on this current team. I felt like we had a really good relationship. When he was going through all that crap, the Minnesota stuff. I ran into him downtown, right there at Director's Square, by the waterfalls and stuff.

"During the interview, his agent Bouna [Ndiaye] calls, what a piece of work he is. Bouna asks him what he's doing and he says, 'I'm talking to Quick.' Bouna tells him, 'Don't, stop talking to him, don't run anything.' Nic gets off the phone, he says, 'My agent doesn't want to run what I just told you.' It was basically the same thing that he told David Aldridge about a month or so later.

He said, 'But when it comes time, you'll be the first person I'll call.' We shook hands, he put his other hands on our two embraced hands, and he said, 'Trust me. Trust me. Have I ever done wrong by you?' I was like, "Nic, I don't know about this. You said this was on the record and you're asking me not to do it.' He's like, 'Quick, trust me. Have I ever done wrong by you?' His hands are over our hands shaking.

"For the rest of the summer it was nothing. I had his number, texting, calling, all that. The next training camp, he gets back, I don't talk to him. I didn't talk to him until the second game of the year, all through training camp, media day, I didn't say a word to him. He was asking Joe, 'What's wrong with Quick? Is he mad at me? What's going on?'

"Finally we talk in Oklahoma City. He had a s---- game. You can go back and look at what I wrote. He said, 'Are you mad at me?' I said, 'Yeah, you know exactly why.' He said, 'I know, even my girlfriend said it's not right. I'd never been through something like this. My agent was telling me this.' At the end, I got over it.

"It was just like, 'Why trust these guys? Why have faith in these guys?' If there was a guy I trusted and had faith in being a good person it was Nic. That was like, 'What am I investing so much time into this for?' I've given a lot of time to this beat, that was a real... that was when things really started shifting for me.

"The fans too. They piss me off. I feel like I get so much unwarranted ----. A lot of this stuff, I can't say where I'm getting it from. Just trust me. I don't want to get into it. I feel like people don't understand this profession. A lot of times when you're writing stuff, you know it, you just can't reveal who it's coming from."​

Interesting story there with Batum.

Just a bunch of bull****.

 

Sounds like someone had a meltdown

 

Sounds like someone thinks they are more important than they are.

 

I figured they'd have thicker skin up north. Oh well. Back to grad school and mom's basement.

 

sounds like someone had athletes on a pedestal. you can't count on the french.

 

power is attractive. players gravitate to big name agents. big name agents like big name journalists. don't take any more handshake deals, break the big story even if the facts are screwy and your source is remorseful.

disgruntled & disillusioned, welcome to humanity Jason Quick.

 

I think a better story would be how a 12 year old girl got a job as Blazers beat writer in the first place.

 

If only he worked with Jeremy Lin

 

Kind of interesting. Thought it was pretty lame how he gave Batum the cold shoulder and wrote about how he was inconsistent because they wouldn't give him some information or something.

 

What a baby.

 

His Harden Soul not in the game anymore. I get that, but stop whining about it.

 

People are dishonest, what a shocker. Good luck finding a line of work where that isn't an issue.

 

I would hate to imagine what dealing with Lin fans would have done to him

This was probably Quick's biggest scoop concerning the Rockets:

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=3801291&postcount=115

 

Good thing he's covering the NCAA now, where the focus is all on ensuring student athletes can get a good education

 

Jason Quick: "I thought we had something Nic. Just you and me, that night down by the fountain. What?! You don't remember? I hate you! I hate you and I want you to die!"

 

Ding ding ding! Winner winner chicken dinner!

Sheesh, the guy apparently began the job with a lot of misconceptions as to what really happens. Hopefully he gets over it but whatever.

 

Sounds like a little girl

 

The replies in this thread make me sad.

 

agreed. I am sure he will find the respectable mature people he is looking to follow around and write about on the University of Oregon football team .

Guy needs to lighten up and realize what he does for a living is not all that meaningful. Also journalists and athletes are almost never friends.