ELON, N.C. – Telling a compelling news story takes great skill. The same holds true when broadcasting a high-level sporting event. Zora Stephenson has spent the last decade mastering both, often at the same time.
Few find sustained success in either field, but Stephenson has built a career doing both. She started in hard news, learning how to cover national stories that demanded not only high standards of journalistic integrity and accuracy, but also the ability to tell captivating stories that resonated with wide audiences. That same storytelling instinct became just as essential when the opportunity to shift into sports media emerged, meaning there was no need for Stephenson to reinvent herself.
Long before she entered a newsroom or put on a broadcast headset though, Stephenson was on the court. She played basketball from her childhood through college, and although she is quick to say that the sport does not define her, it has been a constant presence throughout her life. That connection ultimately nudged her toward the career she has today.
While the move into sports media made sense professionally, it also carried deep personal meaning. For the first time, her narrative craft and her connection to the game shared the same space.
To those outside of journalism or sports broadcasting, the connection between the industries might not be obvious. For Stephenson though, the two have always been linked by one common thread: storytelling.
LONG WAY FROM THE CUL-DE-SAC
For as long as Stephenson can remember, basketball has been a major part of her family's life. Her earliest memories of the game date back to neighborhood pick-up games as a kid with her cousins, noting they were a lot taller and older at the time.
Stephenson explained that there was no particular moment that made her fall in love with the sport, it had just always been rooted in kin.
"It wasn't like I met someone famous; it was just my family playing basketball in the cul-de-sac and me being able to get good enough to join them," Stephenson said. "It started with family and my cousins in the cul-de-sac, and it's grown over the years."
A native of Vienna, Virginia, Stephenson and her father had a Friday night routine of attending high school basketball games in the Fairfax County area to watch the DMV talent.
"I have all these really precious moments, the game has done so much for me," Stephenson said. "It's like the gift that keeps on giving and it goes so much farther than just a ball that goes in a hoop."
Stephenson finished her high school career as a 1,400-point scorer, McDonald's All-American nominee and contributed to Oakton High School's 101-8 record and four district and three region titles in her four years. With her impressive resume, Stephenson had plenty of schools to choose from once her recruitment period opened.
Though physical recruitment letters are now a vestige of a bygone era, envelopes from various DI colleges flooding into the Stephenson mailbox became commonplace.
Stephenson vividly recalls opening one envelope in particular, one which revealed a letterhead she mistook for a university located in the capital city of the Grand Canyon state.
"I was like, 'Phoenix? In Arizona?'" Stephenson laughed. "I'd never heard of Elon."
With her parents encouraging her to look at as many schools that she possibly could – to narrow down the many options available – Stephenson started taking unofficial visits.
After scheduling a visit to East Carolina University, the Stephenson family decided to add a stop at Elon University, mainly because it was less than two-and-a-half hours away from ECU's campus. After stopping at Elon first on their North Carolina road trip, Stephenson immediately knew where she wanted to spend her college career.
"As soon as I stepped on campus, I felt at home," Stephenson said of her first visit to Elon.
While the level of basketball played an important role in deciding which institution she would attend, high-level academics and extracurricular opportunities also played a key role in the decision-making process. With visits to several other schools under her belt before the impromptu tour at Elon, Stephenson said she immediately recognized the uniqueness and culture of the institution.
"I was so drawn to Elon, because when I went on my visit it wasn't all about basketball," Stephenson said. "Sometimes, you went to other schools, and all they wanted to show you was the gym."
"They showed me the entire community, and that mattered so much," Stephenson added.
While she and her family still made the trek to Greenville to see ECU – albeit late after a lengthy day of seeing everything Elon had to offer – Stephenson had no desire to consider any other schools once she finished her first visit of the day. Soon after, she officially committed to the Phoenix.
Though Stephenson never played a second for the head coach who recruited her in Karen Barefoot, she ended up playing four years for current Elon head coach Charlotte Smith.
A pioneer for the Smith era of Elon women's basketball, Stephenson played from 2011-15, contributing to the team's 69-57 record and setting the program's single-season 3-point percentage record along the way. Despite being a three-year starter for the Phoenix, appearing in 121 games, the moments that shaped her future the most largely occurred off the court during her time at Elon.
THE MID-MAJOR ADVANTAGE
Now 10 years removed from her graduation, Stephenson cannot envision herself attending another school. While she had several friends who played at institutions with higher level college basketball programs, she explained that the opportunities afforded to her at Elon were key in setting up her post-grad aspirations.
"I had friends that did go to Power Five schools, and all they were allowed to do was basketball," Stephenson said.
"I have friends at different schools, and I tell them all that I get to do and they're like, 'Wait, your coaches let you do that?'" Stephenson added.
While basketball was still a top priority for her, Stephenson quickly discovered her passion for news and broadcasting, which began during her time as a contributor for student media outlets such as Elon Local News and Elon Phoenix Weekly.
"I would run from practice, then shower, then go on [Elon Local News] to do the sports segment," Stephenson said.
"For me, the type of person I am, I think all I was involved with actually helped me on the basketball court," Stephenson added.
While she had to balance practices, workouts, team meetings and everything else that came with being a DI athlete, Stephenson explained that her coach's willingness to support her off-the-court professional pursuits – at Elon and elsewhere – was crucial in setting her up for success.
"[Smith] easily could have said, 'Hey, you're here for basketball, no, you can't spend your summers interning,'" Stephenson said.
Stephenson recalled an instance of when she had the chance to take an internship in New York, meaning she would be unable to be on campus for summer workouts. Stephenson explained that her coach's flexibility reflects the broader culture of what being an Elon student-athlete means.
"She always found a way, whether it was sending me workouts so I could stay up to date, she never said no to anything," Stephenson said. "For her to trust that I would do the things that I needed to do to be successful on the court but for her also to support my dreams, I just felt so grateful, and I'll always be grateful for coach Smith."
Stephenson was never content to let basketball be her only identity, an approach that would come to shape her time at Elon and beyond.
NOT THE AVERAGE SNOW DAY
As a kid, Stephenson's parents always kept her busy, which meant there would never be a dull moment for her until she went to college. Despite the newly earned autonomy and freedom though, Stephenson dove right into experiences in every other pocket of campus.
In addition to the Multimedia Studies and Communications degree she was pursuing, she also served as a resident assistant, tour guide and tutor. When she was not helping others, she was working on getting in reps to become the best multimedia journalist she could be.
"When I got to college, that's where I felt my comfort zone," Stephenson said. "Being busy and being productive."
"That's the true epitome of an Elon student, is that we're involved in probably too many things," Stephenson laughed.
Although Stephenson was keeping up with the hectic lifestyle that being a Division I athlete came with, she always found time to fit in one more extracurricular activity. Kevin Blake – now her husband, Elon's current Assistant Athletics Director for Business Operations and a former Elon men's basketball player – said that no matter how packed her calendar was, Stephenson never wasted a second that could be spent improving her craft.
"She's a master of figuring out what works between the lines of her schedule," Blake said. "From the time she woke up to the time she went to sleep, she was able to squeeze in as much as she could, whether people believed she could or not."
Stephenson never saw the reps as a chore. Although success did not come overnight, she capitalized on every opportunity available. Blake recalled an example of his wife's perseverance to become a better journalist occurring in the thick of winter, when most other college students might elect to sleep in.
"When she woke up and saw snow, it wasn't, 'Oh man, there's no class,' it was, 'I think we can do a story,'" Blake said.
With little convincing from his future wife, Blake learned how to operate the equipment and became his partner's regular cameraman, even in the worst of inclement weather.
"There was nothing else I'd rather do than pretend to be the weather person on a snow day at Elon and drag my boyfriend at the time to film it," Stephenson laughed.
Stephenson was so determined to break into the journalism field that going out to make a news package on a snow day was just business as usual for her.
"I loved what I was going for," Stephenson said. "It didn't feel like a task to me."
Even before they were married, Blake said it was clear just how seriously his future wife took her professional goals.
"She didn't know that it would work out, but she was committed to trying to make it work out," Blake said.
After four years of playing college basketball for the Phoenix, countless nights producing news packages in the McEwen School of Communications editing suites and finding her future husband – and impromptu cameraman – Stephenson graduated from Elon in the spring of 2015. Soon after, she landed her first job as a reporter for WNCT in Greenville, North Carolina.
THE LOSSES ARE INCONSEQUENTIAL
Though now known as a respected sports broadcaster, Stephenson said many people might not realize that she got her start in hard news, a chapter she still considers pivotal in shaping her approach to storytelling.
Beginning her professional career on the coast of North Carolina, Stephenson frequently covered natural disasters like hurricanes and floods that devastated communities and took lives. After witnessing destruction that "has taken everything from everyone," she quickly realized just how much perspective one can gain from working in news.
After two years in Greenville, Stephenson moved to Denver, Colorado and began working as reporter and anchor for KDVR FOX31.
She managed to stay connected to sports by serving as an analyst for Metropolitan State University's men's and women's basketball broadcasts and handling play-by-play duties for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball championship. However, Stephenson remained firmly on the frontlines of hard news and often found herself reporting on some of the most difficult moments facing the Colorado community.
"That's what news is, you're covering real life things, the worst part of the day, the worst thing in the city where you live, is where I was front and center more times than not when I was in news," Stephenson said.
Tasked with covering the aftermath of the 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting – which left eight teenage students injured and one dead – Stephenson said she was forced to confront the emotional toll of covering human tragedy, learning how to balance her responsibilities with sensitivity.
Even in those dark moments, Stephenson still had a job to do. In those situations, however, she said the focus is not just on reporting— it becomes more about approaching the story with empathy and being a compassionate presence.
"You're in a parents' living room when they've just lost their child, you're not just a reporter in that moment, you're a human being who offers a hug," Stephenson said. "Not that that does anything, but you just have to be human in all of these moments."
About a year before the shooting, Stephenson was assigned to interview suspects in the 2018 Watts family murders case in Frederick, Colorado. She said it was the story that made her think: "Do I want to do this for the rest of my life?"
At the time, Chris Watts was a suspect in the murder case of his pregnant wife and two children. Stephenson was sent by herself to Watts' house to interview him.
While the two were amidst a sit-down conversation in Watts' living room, there was a knock on the door. It was the police. While Stephenson was able to finish the rest of her interview – albeit with a police presence – everyone left the Watts residence that day still unsure of who committed the murders.
Two days later, Stephenson received a shocking notification on her phone.
"I'll never forget, I was in my living room in Denver, and I get an alert that he confessed to the murders," Stephenson said. "I was alone with that man. I had his number and everything."
About a year after the Watts case, Stephenson pivoted. In the fall of 2019, she landed her first full-time position in sports media as a sideline reporter and the director of storytelling for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. While she has loved her time in sports, Stephenson explained that her craft would only be a fraction of what it is now without the four foundational years she spent in news.
"I'm the sports journalist I am today because of those years in news and actually learning how to write and deliver news and being put in unstable, sometimes dangerous situations," Stephenson said. "Me interviewing someone after a loss is not on my list of hardest things I've ever had to do professionally."
"I learned how to do the job there, sports wouldn't have taught me that," Stephenson added.
Stephenson explained that the news experience gave her confidence as she embarked upon the next chapter of her career. Although the environment had changed, the essence of her work – finding and sharing meaningful stories – remained the same.
THE ART OF STORYTELLING
As a former multimedia journalist, Stephenson's career to that point had always revolved around one thing: telling compelling stories. When she was making the pivot from news to sports, Stephenson leaned on her storytelling skills – confident that her journalism background would translate, even in a different sector of the media industry.
"If you know how to tell a story, you can tell a story about anything," Stephenson said. "You can report on politics, education, weather or the NBA if you have the foundation and the tools to do it."
With his wife reporting on sports since her time at Elon – in addition to honing her narrative storytelling craft through four years of news – Blake explained that Stephenson's transition into her new role with Milwaukee appeared to be an effortless shift.
"Once sports came back into her world, it was like she was able to connect the pieces so seamlessly," Blake said of Stephenson.
As Stephenson began her new role, she had the opportunity to report on the highest levels of professional basketball. With the Bucks coming off an appearance in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals and Milwaukee home to the reigning NBA MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, it was clear her latest professional endeavor would be anything but dull.
In her first year with Milwaukee, the Bucks had a historic season, maintaining sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference from late November through the end of the 2019-20 regular season. While Stephenson said it was an amazing experience to cover such a dominant team on the court, she found herself drawn toward the off-the-court narratives that often go untold.
As the Bucks season steamrolled on, basketball content was never in short supply. Still, Stephenson said her favorite story that year had "nothing to do with anybody's stats or what they did on the court."
In January 2020, the Bucks visited the Racine Correctional Institution in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, in partnership with Represent Justice, a campaign designed to raise awareness about issues surrounding the prison system and to spark change.
At the start of the day, members of the Bucks organization sat in a circle, alternating seats with incarcerated individuals to foster open dialogue about shared life experiences over the course of an hour. Among those in attendance were Antetokounmpo, former head coach Mike Budenholzer, current general manager Jon Horst, current Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, many other prominent Bucks figures and Stephenson herself.
With her keen eye for storytelling, Stephenson immediately recognized the power of the moment, and knew it was one that needed to be shared.
"It was such an intimate, unique moment I couldn't believe was happening," Stephenson said. "I was like, 'This story deserves to be told.'"
Rather than conducting formal sit-down interviews, Stephenson mic'd up several players and coaches, opting to capture the raw unscripted interactions by simply letting her camera roll.
Once the round-table conversation concluded and everyone got to know each other, the day took an even more powerful turn. Bucks coaches and inmates teamed up, splitting into two mixed teams and suited up to play a basketball game. Milwaukee's players stayed on the sidelines, serving as coaches for each squad.
"It was like nothing I'd ever seen before," Stephenson said.
After a long day of capturing video, she produced a five-minute package recapping the event. While the run time would typically be considered too lengthy for live television, Stephenson explained that the story was simply too compelling to be cut. It ended up airing as a Bucks pregame segment on Bally Sports Wisconsin and even made its way to NBA TV.
"I'm so glad I got to be a fly on the wall that day and bring the audience into it and bring Bucks fans into it," Stephenson said.
The package resonated with audiences so much that it even earned Stephenson one of her six Emmy awards. While she is proud of the national recognition the piece received, she deflected the credit to the people whose stories made the story come to life.
"That is one of the most important stories I feel like I've told," Stephenson said. "It won an Emmy, not because of me, but because of how amazing and special the day was."
Less than two months after that story, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the NBA season to an abrupt halt, which left the league in disarray until a contingency plan could be put in place.
Following a five-month hiatus, the NBA played out the 2019-20 season in a bio-secure bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida.
Coming off of eight regular season games in the bubble, the Bucks entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the East and secured a first-round matchup with the No. 8 Orlando Magic.
After four games against the Magic, Milwaukee held a commanding 3-1 lead. On August 26, 2020, the Bucks had the opportunity to close the series out and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Although the Bucks TV crew had become accustomed to remotely broadcasting games from 1,200 miles away in Milwaukee, what unfolded before Game Five was anything but ordinary. It was a moment that required Stephenson to not only draw on her background in hard news, but also on her own life experiences.
Three days earlier in Kenosha, Wisconsin – about a 40-minute drive from the Bucks' home arena in Fiserv Forum – Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot seven times by a white police officer and left partially paralyzed. A video of the shooting was captured by a neighbor and quickly circulated on social media.
The shooting reignited national outrage and sparked a new wave of protests against racial injustice – an extension of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations throughout the country earlier that summer.
With the shooting taking place in their home state, Bucks players voted to not take the court — a collective stand to shed light on the ongoing injustices facing African American communities locally and nationally. In doing so, they effectively boycotted a pivotal playoff game, sacrificing the opportunity to move one step closer to an NBA title.
With Stephenson serving as the remote sideline reporter, she was tasked with helping fill three hours of live airtime on one of the most unprecedented days in league history. She spearheaded the charge to gather updates from inside the locker room and helped steer the broadcast through the rapidly evolving story.
As a Black woman, Stephenson's own life experiences became central in her reporting, a shift from the journalistic norms that were embedded in her from her earliest days in the industry.
"Bringing in personal experiences, which was very different for me. It goes against how I've been trained as a journalist," Stephenson said. "I've always been told, 'Nobody cares about my life and me and my stories.' But in that moment, it added context."
"As a Black woman, with so many Black men in my life that could add context to what the majority of a league of Black men were going through at that time," Stephenson added.
The Bucks' boycott led to a league-wide pause throughout the NBA that lasted several days and prompted other professional sports leagues to follow suit. The ripple effect sparked a renewed national dialogue about racial injustice and the role athletes can play in driving change.
Although the NBA resumed play three days later – albeit after serious consideration about cancelling the season to underscore the significant moment – Stephenson's reporting that day had nothing to do with the on-the-court part of the sport. However, she described it as some of the most impactful work of her career.
"If you want to talk about telling stories and bringing the viewer in, it's fascinating," Stephenson said. "I've covered a championship, I've covered a multiple-time MVP, and my favorite stories have nothing to do with putting the ball in the basket. And that is the power of sports."
While Milwaukee managed to advance to the next round, their season came to an end at the hands of the Miami Heat, the eventual NBA Finals runner-up. What followed the next season though, for the Bucks as a team and Stephenson professionally, was beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
Gallery: (7-9-2025) Rising Phoenix: Zora Stephenson
RAREFIED AIR
After gearing up for another year in her role with the Bucks, Stephenson was once again fortunate enough to be covering a high-level team. Although the 2020-21 regular season was shortened by 10 games due to the pandemic, Milwaukee maintained the No. 3 seed in the East from March into the playoffs.
Just over a month before Milwaukee made a postseason run for the ages, Stephenson made history, becoming the first woman to call a game as a play-by-play broadcaster for the Bucks.
The idea was first floated to Stephenson in summer 2020 during a socially distanced lunch with Jim Paschke, the former long-time play-by-play voice of the Bucks.
"I thought he was nuts for bringing it up," Stephenson said of Paschke. "I just had never seen myself in that position, I hadn't seen many people that sounded like me or looked like me in that position. It was never a goal until somebody saw something in me that I didn't see in myself."
Because the pandemic created abnormal downtime in Stephenson's typically jam-packed schedule, she began devoting her free time to honing her play-by-play craft. Although there were no live events to practice with when she originally received the offer – due to the NBA suspending its season because of COVID – Stephenson pulled up old games and recorded herself conducting full-length broadcasts as the lead analyst.
While she was doing everything in her power to become the best play-by-play broadcaster possible, she was not satisfied when first listening back to her original recordings.
"I hated how I sounded, I was like, 'This is so bad,'" Stephenson laughed.
Despite the early frustrations, Stephenson continued to call game after game. Eventually, the Bucks broadcast crew agreed to having their usual sideline reporter broadcast live games off-the-air, giving her reps without the pressure of a live audience.
"The Bucks put me in a position and said, 'Hey, we'll give you some practice games that nobody ever hears or listens to and we'll see how you sound,'" Stephenson said.
Stephenson's drive to improve did not go unnoticed, especially to her husband. Blake explained that a cornerstone of his wife's success is her insistence on being as well-informed as possible, regardless of the topic or event she was covering.
"She's not a perfectionist, she's a person of preparedness," Blake said of Stephenson.
Stephenson echoed Blake's sentiment, noting that while perfection is unrealistic, preparedness is always within her control.
"I know I'm not going to be perfect. I strive to be my best, I strive to be great, but perfect is unattainable," Stephenson said. "Being prepared though, I think sets you up for success."
Stephenson admitted that although she rarely uses every piece of information she packs into her meticulously prepared spotting charts and boards, the repetition has been key in building her confidence. By constantly researching, watching tape and thoroughly preparing, she ensures that she is ready when the moment arrives.
"I'm preparing more than I'm actually performing," Stephenson said. "It's just how it goes. You have to put in the reps to become comfortable when it's your time to shine. That's something I take very seriously, and I think it's how I continue to stay in this position."
Stephenson explained that her mindset of over-preparing goes back to her playing days, where the off-the-court preparation directly correlated with her on-court performance.
"You talk about what basketball has taught me, all the work you put in the gym prepares you for the game," Stephenson said.
While her 10 months of play-by-play reps – on top of her usual sideline and storytelling responsibilities – were unseen by most, her dedication did not go unnoticed by Paschke and the other members of the Bucks broadcast crew. With 20 games left to go in the regular season, they were confident Stephenson was ready.
"Then I got good enough to where they said, 'OK, you can do a real game,'" Stephenson said. "Kudos to [Paschke] whose job it really was to step aside for a game for me to get an opportunity."
With the busy nature that comes with the industry, the weight of the moment did not set in for Stephenson until just a day before tipoff.
"I don't think I realized until the day before the game that I would be the first woman that ever called a Bucks game," Stephenson said. "I was just someone trying to be really good at an opportunity they had gotten, and seeing the value in that opportunity, and then ended up making history."
On April 9, 2021, Milwaukee took the court at Fiserv Forum for a Friday night matchup with the Charlotte Hornets. Stephenson was far from her usual spot on the sidelines — but it was exactly where she wanted to be. She was up in the booth, calling the game as the play-by-play broadcaster alongside former Bucks star and color analyst Marques Johnson.
While the Bucks ultimately fell short, losing 127-119, Stephenson knew that the significance of the night extended far beyond the final score. What she had accomplished marked a milestone — not just for herself professionally, but ideally, for the future of women in sports broadcasting.
"So many things had to align, I'm grateful for so many people," Stephenson said. "That one game changed so much for me, and hopefully for people after me, too."
"I'm just really humbled by it, and I just want to make sure I don't screw it up for the next person," Stephenson added. "Anytime you make history, it's like, 'OK great, you're the first, but you're never supposed to be the last.'"
After her historic night, Stephenson returned to her sideline reporter role for the remainder of the Bucks' 2020-21 campaign. While the regular season was winding down, the stories she had left to tell were far from over.
I CAN'T PICK ONE
About a month after Stephenson's monumental night, the Bucks embarked on a remarkable playoff run that culminated in the 2021 NBA title — marking the franchise's first championship since 1971, meaning it was just the Bucks' second title in 50 years.
Back on the sidelines, Stephenson was front and center for all of it. She covered Milwaukee exorcising its playoff demons with a first-round sweep of the Heat, followed by a dramatic seven-game series against the Brooklyn Nets — sealed when Kevin Durant's potential game-winning three was ruled a two, as his toe had just grazed the three-point line.
From there, Stephenson watched adversity strike when Antetokounmpo hyperextended his knee in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks. With their star sidelined, she had an opportunity to witness the Bucks other starters step up, delivering impressive performances to close the series out in six games and secure Milwaukee's NBA Finals berth against the Phoenix Suns.
After going down 0-2 to the Suns, the Bucks stormed back, rattling off four straight wins, punctuated by Antetokounmpo's legendary 50-point closeout Game Six to seal the championship on their home floor.
With the Bucks' closeout game at Fiserv Forum, Stephenson was able to be on the court, reporting on Milwaukee's long-awaited title coronation and even interviewed Antetokounmpo after he was named Finals MVP.
"What a joy to cover a human-being like that, an athlete like that," Stephenson said of Antetokounmpo. "You talk about greatness, someone who's just so dialed in and expects nothing but the best from himself."
Stephenson explained that by covering the likes of Antetokounmpo and other larger-than-life athletes serves as a constant reminder of why she fell in love with her work in the first place. While their athletic excellence is undeniably thrilling to witness, she said the rare privilege of getting to tell their unique human stories is what resonates most with her.
"I've learned so much from athletes about life," Stephenson said. "It's not because they sat me down and were like, 'Zora,' it's just been from observing and covering them. That's been a real treat and a bonus to the job as well."
A couple days after the title, Stephenson hosted the championship parade in front of 60,000 raucous fans. While her time with the Bucks ended two seasons later, she explained that those unforgettable moments in Milwaukee are just part of a growing list of meaningful events and athletes she has been fortunate enough to cover.
"I just carry pieces of these moments from everything," Stephenson said. "There's not one that is my favorite. It's like a kid; you can't pick your favorite."
Since joining NBC Sports in the fall of 2023, Stephenson has covered a wide variety of events – from Notre Dame football, the Olympics and NCAA college basketball – continuing to establish her name in the sports broadcasting world.
Thanks to NBC's media rights to the Big Ten Conference, she now regularly broadcasts her former sport of women's college basketball on Peacock. In Stephenson's first year with NBC Sports, she even had the opportunity to call the game when Iowa guard Caitlin Clark set the all-time NCAA Division I women's basketball scoring record.
"I still have the confetti from that night in my backpack," Stephenson laughed.
Just a few months later, Stephenson traveled to France and worked as a sideline reporter for NBC Sports' coverage of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. In addition to covering the U.S. men's and women's basketball teams during their impressive runs to gold, she had a front-row seat to report on Simone Biles capturing three individual gold medals, which culminated in the U.S. Gymnastics team's gold medal finish.
The Olympics added to the expanding portfolio of marquee events Stephenson has had the privilege of working. Despite her impressive resume, she explained she tries to approach each assignment with a grounded mindset – no matter the stage.
I'M NOT THE ATHLETE, 'I'M A HAS-BEEN'
Even though she is now more than a decade deep into her career, Stephenson still regularly finds herself in awe of the historic moments and stories she gets to cover.
She referenced a now iconic Instagram story from LeBron James – who she frequently interviewed at the Olympics – that perfectly sums up how she feels every time she goes into work. The photo is a selfie of James smiling from ear-to-ear in a pool, with the caption: "Smiling through it all! Can't believe this my life."
Stephenson explained that James' Instagram story sticks with her because it reflects how she genuinely feels. She emphasized that the extraordinary experiences that come with her work still catch her off guard, and the privilege of covering those moments is never lost on her.
"I've been so blessed that every year, and every season I get a surreal moment," Stephenson said. "Every time that I leave my house to go to a sporting event on national television, I'm like, 'What the heck is going on?'"
"I have so much joy and gratitude for what I do now," Stephenson added. "It's beyond my wildest dreams. I get to go to sporting events for a living and it's really cool."
While she explained that being a former basketball player can be helpful in her analysis during a broadcast, Stephenson is always cognizant of not letting her own experiences get in the way. She joked that because the athletes she covers play at a much higher level than she ever did, she never needs a reminder of who the spotlight truly belongs to.
"I'm not the athlete, I'm a 'has-been,'" Stephenson laughed. "I'm nowhere near as good as the people I'm covering, so I don't need much focus to remember that. I have the utmost respect for what these athletes are doing, I know my place, I respect my place."
Admittedly, Stephenson's favorite stories to tell have all come off the court. While she still loves her commentating and sideline roles – providing live analysis rooted in X's and O's, game trends and statistics – she said one of the most important things she can do for her audience is to humanize the moments that go beyond the numbers.
"My job, no matter what role I'm in, whether it's reporter, analyst, play-by-play, news, sports, is to connect the viewer to the subject," Stephenson said. "Numbers help give perspective, but that's done by emotion, that's done by having some insight on what motivates that person, how they got into the position that they are in, why they're in that position."
While most of her viewers cannot dunk like Antetokounmpo, stick a landing like Biles or sink a 35-footer like Clark, Stephenson said she believes her audience can still connect with the athletes through shared human experiences, something she strives to reflect every time she is on the air.
"Most people, when they talk about high-level or DI sports, people can't even attempt what these athletes are doing on the court or on the field," Stephenson said. "But they can relate to trying really hard at something, they can relate to having a goal. So, that's what I try to bring through the screen when I'm telling stories."
The human element of her work is what keeps her grounded, even when covering some of the highest-profile sporting events in the world.
"I've been there for some really historical things, and at the end of the day, I'm still just Zora," she said.
Despite everything she has accomplished, Stephenson said she does not want her work to ever define her. While working in sports is a big part of her life, she explained that she wants to always hold onto the joy that first sparked her love for the game.
"It's my job and it's a big part of me, but it's not who I am," Stephenson said. "At the end of the day, I'm still that giddy little girl who grew up watching basketball, and I never want to lose that. I haven't lost it, and it's really important to me that I don't lose that."
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Sydney Spencer at sspencer9@elon.edu.
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