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Philly Faces: Lauren Rosen
P H I LLY FACES
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
clipboards around campus for
on-air talent like Williams,
the former Duke great, Rosen
began to see what a future in
basketball broadcasting could
look like. As she continued
to work with the crew, Rosen
said, Williams was one of her
biggest supporters, pushing her
to do the best she could.

Since then, Rosen has earned
a master’s in journalism from
Northwestern University and
spent time as a public relations
M LE
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FORMER DUKE BLUE
Devils point guard Jay
Williams dished out a ton of
assists to his teammates in the
early aughts, powering them
to an NCAA championship in
2001. Lauren Rosen, 26, is one
of those lucky few who can
claim an assist from Williams
without ever having stepped
onto the court.

The Houston native didn’t
grow up a basketball fan —
her sporting life was mostly
confined to gymnastics at her
local JCC — but when she
arrived at Duke University
with dreams of a future in
sports broadcasting, the
game called out to her. She
started to work as a produc-
tion runner for Duke games
televised on ESPN, a frequent
occurrence. Toting coffees and
UPPE R DU BLI N
Lauren Rosen
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assistant for the Chicago Bulls.

Now, the 26-year-old is an
in-house digital media reporter
for the Philadelphia 76ers,
getting up close and personal
with players and crowds as
COVID restrictions are lifted
and the playoffs heat up.

Rosen spoke
about Philadelphians, the Brooklyn
Nets and reporting on basket-
ball when there wasn’t any
basketball being played.

game, there’s so much skill
involved. It’s not a game that I ever
played, and for that reason,
I have a level of respect for
it, because I can never truly
understand what these athletes
are able to do. So I would say
coincidence, but luckily, I fell
in love with it after enough
coincidences lined up with
each other. And now I’ve been
around long enough that I do
feel comfortable picking the
How did basketball become game apart and forming my
the energizing thing for you? own opinions.

It seems like there’s a lot of
directions you could have I imagine you really have
gone with what you’d learned to love the game to be able
how to do.

to cover it from afar, like
Some of it is coincidence, you’ve had to do during the
because I didn’t go to Duke pandemic. How did your job
because of Duke basketball. change during the pandemic?
But it became a huge part of
I do love the game. But I
my life once I got there. And love the players more. I really
then working with ESPN on like helping people learn about
their basketball programming their favorite players off the
again, it was sort of that Duke court. This specific Sixers team
was point A, ESPN was point has been such a pleasure to
B, and I was just closest to work with and to present to
basketball during that forma- the public because they’re great
tive time. And luckily, I really players, and they’ve had so
fell in love with the sport and much success. But their stories,
the culture. And it’s cheesy, but at least to me, are even more
I’ve started watching the game interesting. People really forget
as poetry. It’s a really beautiful that these are human beings,
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and they have good days and
bad days and up times and
down times like you and I do,
and helping paint that more
holistic picture is what I love
doing. And so that didn’t stop
when the pandemic started.

That’s maybe the one thing
that didn’t stop, was being
able to help them tell their
stories. For a while there, we
were talking about, ‘OK, what
are the players doing during
shutdown?,’ because they’re
these larger-than-life charac-
ters, but they also had to be in
quarantine and spend a lot of
time alone and cope with that,
the way that everybody did.

So the biggest change, of
Financial advice
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energy like I felt in my first
playoff game with the Sixers. So
that would have been in 2019
against the Brooklyn Nets. The
building gets so loud, and I’m
so looking forward to getting
back to that full capacity.

E. Matthew Steinberg
Managing Director – Investments
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matthew.steinberg@opco.com What is it about Philadelphia
that you found unique among
all those different stops?
I appreciate the city for the
history, for the architecture,
but it’s mostly the people for
me. People in Philly are so
proud to be here. People from
Philly are proud to be from
here. And I feel like I’m slowly
becoming a part of this little
family that I really enjoy, really
love. Serving Investors in
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This specific Sixers team has been such a
pleasure to work with and to present to the
public because they’re great players, and
they’ve had so much success. But their stories,
at least to me, are even more interesting.”
LAUREN ROSEN
course, was no longer covering
basketball. I mean, we were
covering a game against the
Pistons, the game went well,
and then all of a sudden the
season stops. So that transition
was jarring. We really quickly
pivoted to sort of trying to
give Sixers fans a view into the
players lives, bring a little bit of
levity into a hard time, which
is what sports are supposed to
do, but couldn’t do during that
those first few months.

What’s next for you?
I’ve arrived where I’m at a lot
quicker than I thought I would.

So to borrow a Marc Zumoff
term, I am in no particular
hurry to be done with what I’m
doing right now. I love it. And
I’m looking forward to getting
to do it outside of the pandemic
restrictions that we’ve been
living under.

So, what’s next is continue
doing what I’m doing and try
to do it a whole lot better, more
dynamically. And then I hope to
stay in broadcast. I hope to stay
with basketball. So wherever
that takes me, I’ll be thrilled to
continue. Right now I’m really
happy with what I’m doing. And
it feels good to say that. l
What was your “Welcome to
Philadelphia” moment?
It sounds a little corny, but
my “Welcome to Philadelphia”
moment was my first playoff
game with the Sixers. I’ve been
privileged to watch a lot of
high-level basketball in the last jbernstein@jewishexponent.com;
10 years. And I’ve never felt 215-832-0740
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JUNE 3, 2021
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