Lately I have had several ideas about what piece I wanted to write next. For instance, is Ime Udoka this current Rockets’ version of Don Cheaney, Del Harris, Mark Jackson, or Tom Thibodeau? All guys who changed the trajectory of teams that would eventually become champions under the next head coach that took their place. Or is he Rudy Tomjanovich, Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr, or Mike Brown… the coach who will see the Rockets through to the promised land? While I’d still love to debate that with you
all in the comment section, I am saddened by the fact that this will be a different type of article. I am bidding you all farewell as a staff writer.
Two years ago, when former staff writer Lachard Binkley called me and asked if I would be interested in writing for The Dream Shake, I couldn’t believe it. At that time, I had been hosting my own Houston sports podcast for less than a year, and I had invited Lachard onto my show very early on and to my surprise he accepted. I had reached out to so many writers, radio hosts, podcasters, and content creators who all said no if they didn’t just flat put ignore me. Lachard however, responded to the very first message I sent him and was happy to come talk Rockets basketball with anyone who loves this team as much as he does. It felt so amazing for someone I had been looking up to and admiring his work from afar, to see me as his equal.
In my wildest dream I figured that Lachard would just become a regular guest on my show up until the point he moved on to bigger and better things. One day in July 2024 he called me and told me that he had gotten a gig writing for SI.com. Here is where I figured he’d be telling me that he no longer had time to make guest appearances on my show. But no… instead he asked me if I would be interested in replacing him on the writing staff at TDS. There was no way he was serious, not in my mind. Of all the people this man knows and has come across in the course of his career, he’s asking me? Why?
I’ll be honest. I’ve never actually asked Lachard that question. I did however thank him profusely and said, “Hell yeah I wanna write for The Dream Shake!” He encouraged me to slow my roll and informed me I’d still have to apply and get accepted, but he gave me Darren Yuvan’s number and said to give him a call. I immediately hung up and did just that. I left Darren a voicemail and told him that Lachard Binkley gave me his number. In my opinion other than perhaps Kelly Iko respectively… there is no bigger name drop for TDS. I was still in shock. Honestly, I wasn’t convinced that I would hear back from Darren for no other reason than as a show of respect for Lachard who contributed so much to this website. Perhaps Darren wasn’t too optimistic himself. After all, I had zero experience nor any formal training in writing. However, he did call me back and asked that I’d write something Rockets related and send it to him so he could better gauge my ability.
Earlier that month, the great Gene Peterson had just passed, and for my submission to Darren I chose to write a tribute to the man who helped me fall in love with Rockets basketball. I told the story of how when I was a kid, I wasn’t allowed to watch West Coast games because my bedtime was 9:00 pm. So, I would go in my room and hide under my bed with my clock radio turned down very low with my ear to the speaker and listen to Gene and Jim Foley call the games. From that little boy who would literally cry himself to sleep whenever the Rockets lost, to potentially writing for the iconic website named after my favorite players signature move. Talk about full circle.
You can guess the rest… but for the Spurs and Mavs fans who may stumble across this and have a hard time putting two and two together… I got the gig.
It has been a blast covering the Rockets these past two years, and even more fun to engage with my fellow Rockets fans and TDS faithful. Even the ones who think my takes suck and that I have no clue what I’m talking about. Those are actually my favorite! I wish I could continue but due to some health complications I’m dealing with I’ve decided that if I cannot give my all to make sure every piece of work I put out is the absolute best I can do, then I’d be cheating myself and more importantly it would be cheating all of you. Instead, I’m going to revert to being a part of this community as a fan, but I want to thank every one of you who took the time out of your day to give me a voice.
To Lachard Binkley, thank you so much for presenting me with the opportunity of a lifetime and thank you for always being just one of the guys despite your success. To my colleagues Xiane, Holly, Armin, Anthony, and James, you are all so very talented and your love for this team and this website jumps off of every piece you write. It’s been an honor to be in your company. Last but certainly not least to Darren Yuvan… sending you the message of my resignation is one of the toughest things I’ve done in some time. I hope you understand that I love this team and this website too much to let my pride get in the way. You, this site, and the fans deserve my best and I just haven’t been able to give that lately. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity of a lifetime. This isn’t goodbye, just farewell.
