Welcome! My name is Eric. I started working on this site in 2020 when the universe inadvertently gave me the gift of extra free time via a global pandemic. The site was launched at the start of the 2021-2022 NBA season and this was my thought process and motivation:
There is so much content constantly flooding the eyes and ears of basketball fans these days that daily consumption of news and rumors has become a bit too time consuming and tedious to keep up with. Every time we end up away from our televisions, phones or laptops for a couple of hours to focus on real-life responsibilities we probably missed four podcasts, seven articles, box scores, highlights, memes, rumors, and a ton of great tweets. This is not a great feeling for us hardcore NBA fans that like to stay informed day in and day out.
I also found that some of the more well-known sites are either (1) super specialized (i.e. team specific blogs) or (2) big sites with such a huge array of content that it’s hard to keep tabs on what content they provide and where to find it within the site. In the end, whether the site is big, medium or small, we usually come to realize that no one site has the exact content mix we were hoping for in the first place. Then, we start bookmarking lots of pages, following way too many people on socials, and/or hoping we remember where to find things.
The CONCEPT:
I wanted to create a basketball site that would ‘distill’ the best of everything I hear, see, find, research, or think of, and then share only the most top-shelf content and analysis tools in one aesthetically-pleasing place to eliminate the daily fatigue that comes with trying to keep tabs on everything circulating in the NBA world.
I plan to serve this up to everyone in three ways:
- Highlighting top-shelf specialty sites that have built tools which border on perfection for NBA fan enjoyment (such as Tankathon and Fanspo) so I’ve added those sites front and center (sidebar actually!), along with a few others, for easy access, so you can quickly reference the best news, rumors, salary cap rules, create trades, mock drafts, or analyze stats and rosters/salaries.
- Hoops Distillery X, my own hand-crafted custom list on Twitter which can be followed or enjoyed directly through the site (either on the sidebar of The Distillery or full screen by utilizing the HDX View page) which I will consistently update and refine, as needed, to provide a broad selection of the best content out there across the NBA, college/high school/international prospects, the draft, rumors, salary cap/roster management, front office/coaching movement, G League, sneakers/fashion, NBA history, advanced stats and analytics, etc. Leave this page up in the background as you do your work at home or at school, and feel confident that you’ll never miss a thing!
- Posts highlighting news, rumors, analysis from others that can’t be missed along with additional commentary for added perspective. I’ll also sprinkle in some posts which feature my own original content if I feel I have a unique slant on a particular topic.
SUPPORTING THE FUTURE:
Our Hoops Distillery store at Threaless.com is live with plenty of high quality gear including t-shirts, stickers, and shower curtains. Our merch was created with the specific goal of giving back and to do so, I’ll be donating 100% of profits from the store to the following two charities who support youth development through sports:
PeacePlayers International is a global movement of youth leaders using basketball to create a more peaceful and equitable world. Through a combination of bridge building, leadership training, peace education and professional development, our programs produce inspired and capable peace advocates with the skills, network and motivation to influence social change.
Since 2001, PeacePlayers has been working in some of the toughest regions of the world using the simple yet powerful premise that “children who play together can learn to live together.” The movement began in South Africa, with locations in Northern Ireland, the Middle East and Cyprus opening soon after. 20 years later, PeacePlayers has expanded to include 5 Cities in the United States and has directly reached more than 80,000 young people across the world.
Rise Up & Care identifies and builds personal relationships with leaders of successful, passionate, and innovative non-profits in developing communities around the globe with at least five years and preferably ten years of success. Their partners use high-level performance training to provide a ladder of inspiration, teamwork, identity and opportunity for success that can transform the lives of young people.
Please read more about these two great charities and consider donating too!
SPECIAL THANKS to the guidance and support of my site editors and strategists, Benjamin White and Steve Theo, and our spiritual leader, The Reverend Chuck South.
For questions, comments, recommendations or business inquiries email me at:
hoopsdistillery@gmail.com
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