For this series, Julia Adams spoke with women in various positions in the league – from play-by-play broadcasters to analysts to producers – to understand how the NBA is helping women step into roles. league-wide.

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TNT’s Allie LaForce was born to be a sportscaster. Growing up with parents who were former college athletes, a mother who owned a talent and modeling agency, and an aunt who coached college basketball, a career in sports television was in LaForce’s DNA.

“From day one, everything was ‘Introducing Allie LaForce.“If I had a new outfit, I had to come down and do a whole presentation…we were still practicing public speaking and my parents were still filming,” LaForce said.

Fast forward to today, LaForce is the main secondary reporter covering the NBA on TNT – including working on the 2022 NBA playoffs. She covers March Madness and was previously the main SEC reporter on CBS Sports Network . LaForce credits most of her broadcast success to her unique upbringing.

LaForce’s parents insisted that she live by the motto “try everything once”. As a child, she played basketball, volleyball, softball, ran on the track and even participated in competitions. She was crowned Miss Ohio Teen USA and Miss Teen USA in 2005.

“I set a lot of goals for myself when I was young thanks to the influence of my parents and my aunt. [Connie]”, LaForce said. “I would put up signs in my room that said ‘break the free throw record’ or ‘make x number of threes’ or ‘win x number of games.’ But because of Connie, basketball was number one in my heart.

One of Allie’s goals was to play varsity sports, which came to fruition when she played on the Ohio University women’s basketball team. LaForce says having the opportunity to play college basketball helped shape her and her broadcasting career into what it is today.

“Mentally and physically, you have no idea how powerful you are until you really push the limits,” LaForce said. “College basketball pushed me mentally and physically to new heights…Having elite teammates and coaches helped me develop my knowledge for the game much faster…It was really natural for me to be analyst after being a player… the game came straight out of my language.”

In addition to playing college basketball, LaForce traveled to cover football and basketball games and called games on the radio. She has also worked for the local television channel, WOUB-TV, as a presenter, reporter and producer. Allie earned a journalism degree in 2011 from Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College.

LaForce believes breaking into the industry early on was a combination of his hard work ethic with timing and luck.

“Out of college, at the first local station where I worked, they were converting the tape to digital. Young journalists like me shot, wrote, edited and passed in front of the camera. I wouldn’t have been hired into such a big network early on if that change hadn’t happened,” LaForce said. “In addition, all national sports stations have launched sports networks [FOX Sports, CBS Sports Network], and they desperately needed talent. It helped me go national much faster.

After college, she signed with Cleveland’s FOX affiliate, WJW Channel 8, as a sports anchor and reporter, and worked on the sidelines for Sportstime Ohio. The defining moment in LaForce’s career came when she was appointed as a senior secondary reporter for the SEC on CBS.

“Over the span of two weeks, I was playing big college football games, interviewing Peyton Manning and working on the field ahead of the NFL preseason,” LaForce said. “Those two weeks of testing me as a secondary reporter on the biggest stage was probably my biggest ‘WOW’ moment…or one of the first”

Since working for TNT, LaForce has covered NBA All-Stars, worked playoff games and even interviewed stars from LeBron James to Chris Paul. However, her biggest accomplishment to date is launching her Help Cure HD foundation with her husband, MLB pitcher Joe Smith.

Help Cure HD was inspired by Lee Smith, Joe’s mother, who was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease in 2012. It aims to improve the quality of life of people affected by Huntington’s disease by providing financial, emotional support and mental while searching for a cure. Huntington’s disease is an inherited brain disorder that causes nerve cells to deteriorate. More than 30,000 people in the United States suffer from the disease, but there is no cure. Currently, there is a 50/50 chance that a child can inherit the HD gene if a parent has it.

According to LaForce, Help Cure HD eradicates the deadly disease from a family line forever by preventing transmission of the gene through a procedure known as PGT-IVF. Through the procedure, embryos without the HD gene can be implanted, thus ending the disease in the family line. So far, LaForce and Smith have funded 70 families to undergo PGT-IVF through hard work and fundraising.

“In vitro fertilization or IVF costs about $40,000 on average per family. We know a lot of people don’t have access to this big decision for their family and choose not to have children because they can’t afford it and don’t want to pass the disease on,” LaForce said. “Every penny donated goes to the families.”

Allie is also currently in her first trimester and is very vocal about her journey. She posts frequent updates to her blog and Instagram account, including when she’s on the road covering games. LaForce says sharing her pregnancy journey publicly has been very rewarding.

“I couldn’t believe how little information I had about fertility and pregnancy during this time, and how many emotions and questions I would have had on my own. It would have been a thousand times more daunting than just sharing it, because all of a sudden, through sharing, I have an outpouring of love and encouragement,” LaForce said. “A lot of women say it helped them read my story. So if I help other women and they help me back, it’s a win-win situation on all fronts.

LaForce’s work family, which is like a second family to her, was also extremely supportive during her pregnancy.

“They are so amazing. My work family is really my family, and it would be like hiding a secret from my family if I couldn’t share it with them,” LaForce said. “They make sure I’m okay. Many of them have children or wives or have had miscarriages. So literally every step of the way they are able to guide me.

In addition to her team’s support, LaForce also added that in general the NBA has supported her in every way throughout her career.

“By far, it’s the league that most supports athletes and their voices, and that goes for talent and broadcast teams as well…I’m proud to cover the NBA.”

If LaForce could give one piece of advice to women looking to follow in his footsteps, it would be this:

“Don’t have a victim mentality. If you have to work harder than someone else, that’s an advantage for you. Work as hard as you can. Ask as many questions as possible. Always have a back up plan and always have a big dream,” LaForce said.