Jordan Ligons Robinson knew she wanted to pursue a career in journalism since she was in high school. Growing up in Sacramento, California, Jordan remembers immersing herself in the world of basketball at a young age and using her love for the game as fuel to secure opportunities for her passions beyond the court—one of which was journalism. Sure enough, she did just that. Jordan earned an athletic scholarship for basketball at Point Loma Nazarene University and officially embarked on her collegiate career. From strengthening her writing skills to learning the ins and outs of being a strong journalist, Jordan enthralled herself in the space and was committed to fostering a strong foundation as a writer. Upon graduation, she began her career in journalism as an editor for a lifestyle magazine in Orange County. Writing about a variety of topics including fashion, beauty, home, and food, Jordan started establishing her brand as a writer. Yet, there was something missing. Something that had played a pivotal role in her life from a young age, and something she had always been surrounded by—sports. Embracing her distinctive connection to fellow athletes and her ability to convey their journeys, Jordan began drawing towards sports stories. From Antonio Gates to Luke Rockhold to Laila Ali, she wrote several cover stories in sports. This was it. These were the experiences that would urge her to dive all the way back into sports. It was only up from there. Shortly after, she began working at The Ringer as a fact-checker and writer—where she continued to expand her perspective and knowledge of the game. During her time at The Ringer, Jordan discovered the void that existed in the coverage of the WNBA and women's sports. Determined to fill this void, she started pitching and writing stories on her off time surrounding women's sports. The rest is history! Since then, Jordan has made it her mission to cover women's sports, its athletes, and their stories. From working with the Pac-12 Conference as a women's basketball host to hosting shows with Buckets, The Women's Sports Network, and Jordan Brand, Jordan continues to bring women's sports stories to the forefront throughout all her work in the industry. Amazing!
What are some key takeaways or lessons that you learned during your time as a student-athlete that you have carried with you as you embarked on your professional career?
I love that question! I think being a student-athlete is so important. It honestly makes you feel like you have superpowers because school is hard in general, and then when someone's like: “Hey, you're gonna be practicing six days a week. Some weeks you're not even gonna be here, so good luck and you still gotta graduate. You still have to keep your scholarship and make sure that you're good enough at playing basketball.” I talk to student-athletes all the time, and my favorite thing that people say is: “Once you graduate, life is easy when you only need to focus on one thing. You do not have to focus on two things at the same time.” But for me, being a student-athlete…you know in high school, ball was life. I loved basketball. I wanted to get a scholarship. That was my goal. It was two (workouts) a day, it was waking up at 6:00 AM to get shots up, it was making sure that I was the best at my craft so that I was really, really good. And then, you get to college and you're a freshman, and people are better than you. People are grown women. They are like 25 and you're like 18, and you're like: “Wait, how are we on the same court right now?” That was a huge adjustment. My college basketball experience wasn't the best. It wasn't how it was on “Love & Basketball,” or how I thought it was going to be. It wasn’t, “Oh, you're a freshman. You work up the ranks and by your junior year you’re All-Conference and all that.” I had that in my mind, but it wasn't like that. I was a role player. I was a bench player. I wasn't a star, and it really hurt my confidence.
It really questioned my worth, like: “Why am I here? Am I even good at basketball? How did I even get here?” You know, all those questions when your identity is wrapped in a sport. You start to question your whole identity. I would call my dad crying after games when I wouldn’t get an opportunity. I felt like my coach was just playing with me, not actually playing me (*laughs*). My dad just said, “You’re there for a bigger purpose. You're by the ocean, you're not in the snow, you're meeting your best friends.” I was able to create a lane outside of basketball; so by time I went to practice it was like: “Ok, this is something that you love but this isn't all your identity. You’re killing it in the journalism field. You are an editor on the paper. You have your best friends. You're learning a new city. You're learning time management. You are learning leadership.” You know, I was a captain for two years on the team. It was just like this bigger purpose of being on the team than the playing time—or the points or the stats. Honestly, being a student-athlete has gotten me into more rooms and more jobs not only as a sports journalist, but just as a professional. I remember Bill Simmons at The Ringer…he said, “I kind of only want to hire athletes. There is something different in you because of your drive, what you have to accomplish on the court, and what you've done so far in your life to get a scholarship. The percentages are so low that that happens, so you're already at the cream of the crop—regardless of your stats in college.” I had to kind of tell myself that as I was in it, you know? I can reflect back and say that I learned so many other things, but when I was in it, I was really frustrated. I was putting up shots in the gym to say, “Please give me an opportunity. I can show you that I'm great.” I just put so much in like: “Let me show you. Let me show you how great I am. Please.” You know, I went through therapy and it’s like: your worth is more than that. Your coach doesn't define your worth as a person, as a player, as a woman. It took a couple years for me to realize that it's bigger than basketball, but it really is. So now to be able to talk to women college athletes and college basketball players, and ask them off the court things (is) great. The fact is that not all of them are going to go to the WNBA, not all of them are going to play professional basketball; so it’s (important) to make sure that they have a well-roundedness about themselves to know: “Ok, off the court still matters and you are still worthy—even if you don't put on that uniform.”
Take us through that journey of when you discovered that you wanted to return to sports and pursue a journey in sports journalism?
Yeah! When I was in college, I was already living and breathing basketball. So if you had told me I had to write about basketball too, I was not for it. I would’ve been like, “No please give me something else.” I really didn't want to be so enthralled because I was actually living it. I really kind of turned against it…like, “Ok, anything but sports.” But then you know, after you graduate, you start to miss it. You start to miss your people. You’re like, “Ok, where all my sporty girlies at.” They were not at my office. They didn't know anything about sports. At the magazine, I started our first March Madness Tournament. It really was the cover stories that I started to accept—Antonio Gates was the first one. I did a cover story on Luke Rockhold, who's an MMA fighter; and then Laila Ali—who’s Muhammad Ali's daughter and a boxer. So I was doing these cover stories and I was able to talk about their legacy in sports and talk about them as people. You know, for magazine covers, it's usually they're trying to promote something; or something is bigger than their sport that they're trying to talk about. Having to weave in that part of their story plus their sports journey, I loved it. I got really excited. I saw a different spark in me when I was going to those interviews or prepping for those interviews than say a chef or a fashion designer. I still loved doing those stories, but it was a different type of joy. I decided to listen to that. I decided to say, "What is it about this that is getting you so excited? Oh, it's sports. Oh, it's an athlete. Oh, you feel like you can connect with them.”
Anytime I was interviewing an athlete and I’d say, “Oh, I used to play college basketball.” It was a different conversation. We could relate in that way, and that is so important when you're trying to talk to somebody and you're trying to get their true answers—you need that relatability. That's what I get when I talk to athletes because I'm genuinely curious about their stories. I know what it takes to be at that position. I know that I was not as good as them in any way, but there is just a level of being able to connect to them in that way that was really the light bulb that went off for me.
As you embarked on this chapter within sports journalism, how did you get started building your personal brand in the space?