Bucks reporter Zora Stephenson headed to Tokyo to cover Olympics basketball for NBC Sports
Jim Owczarski
Basketball returns to the global stage July 23 when the Olympic Games open in Tokyo, and Milwaukee fans will see a familiar face when they tune in to watch Team USA try to win gold: Milwaukee Bucks sideline reporter Zora Stephenson.
NBC Sports hired Stephenson to broadcast and report across several basketball platforms, but her first assignment will be covering the U.S. men's and women's teams at the Games in Japan.
"There's all the emotions and feelings and there's a long list of words to describe it – thrilled, pumped, excited, to be joining the NBC Sports family," Stephenson told the Journal Sentinel. "And what a way to start than to have your first assignment be covering basketball at the Olympics."
Stephenson will join play-by-play voice Bob Fitzgerald, women's analyst Kara Lawson, men's analyst Vince Carter and studio analyst Candace Parker.
"This is like – I mean, I know I used all the words previously, but for me, you know athlete's have the dream of being able to go play in the Olympics?" Stephenson said. "As a member of the media, this is another dream, to be able cover the Olympics on site in a time where this Olympics isn't going to be like any other.
"I'm just honored to have the privilege to tell these athletes' stories, and I don't take that lightly. I take it very seriously. And then also personally, I'm thrilled. It's really an amazing opportunity."
Stephenson's duties with NBC Sports will not end in Tokyo, either.
She will build off her historic role as the first woman to call a regular-season Bucks game and call men's and women's games for the Atlantic 10 Conference on NBC Sports properties as well as report from future Olympics.
"The opportunity aligned where it made sense and they had something they felt I was a fit for, and I was excited to be able to accept it and really join a network that is committed to telling stories and the craft, which you know I care so much about," she said.
Her duties with NBC Sports will not pull her entirely away from Milwaukee, however.
She will be able to report from Bucks games for Bally Sports Wisconsin once their season resumes in the fall of 2021.
"Bucks fans will still see me a majority of the time, but I do now have NBC Sports responsibilities that we'll have to juggle with everything," she said.
The men's basketball preliminary rounds begin in Japan on Saturday, July 24, and the women begin July 25. The gold medal game for both sports is Aug. 7.