Elzie Lee "LZ" Granderson (born March 11, 1972) is an American journalist and former actor, currently writing for the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

as a sports and culture columnist. He was a senior writer and columnist for ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

'', a co-host of '' SportsNation on ESPN'', afternoon co-host at ESPN LA 710 and a columnist for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. Granderson was named the ''

'' Sports and Culture Columnist in January 2019. Granderson has contributed to the channel's '' SportsCenter'', '' Outside the Lines'', ''

Around the Horn ''Around the Horn'' (''ATH'') is an American sports roundtable discussion show, conducted in the style of a panel game, produced by ESPN. The show premiered on November 4, 2002, as a replacement for ''Unscripted with Chris Connelly'', and has ...

'', and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's '' First Take'' and commentates for ESPN's coverage of the US Open tennis tournament. He has also hosted the web-based

ESPN360 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (w ...

talk show '' GameNight''. Granderson has appeared as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

during their coverage of

World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...

. Granderson is a former fellow of the Institute of Politics at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

and the Hechinger Institute at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, as well as a columnist for

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

Early life and education

Granderson was born and raised in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, where he developed a passion for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. He graduated from

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Career

Granderson acted in the 1992 movie '' Zebrahead'', which was set in his hometown of Detroit, playing the supporting role of Larry. He also played the supporting role of Arch Carrouthers in the 1996 Sidney Poitier TV movie ''

To Sir, with Love II ''To Sir, with Love II'' is a 1996 American television film directed by Peter Bogdanovich (his first made-for-TV film). A sequel to the 1967 British film '' To Sir, with Love'', it stars Sidney Poitier reprising the role of Mark Thackeray. Like t ...

''. He was a co-host on the talk show pilot ''

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

' Straight Talk''. Before he moved to

and Page 2, he was a sportswriter at ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' and a columnist at ''

The Grand Rapids Press ''The Grand Rapids Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is the largest of the eight Booth newspapers. It is sold for $1.50 daily and $7.99 on Sunday. AccuWeather provides weather content to the ''Grand Rapids ...

''. Granderson's writings for Page 2 usually center on the social and human aspects of sports. He writes about his own personal struggles, the life of athletes, and occasionally provides social commentary. In June 2015, he joined ABC News as a contributor in a variety of programming across the ABC News platform. On April 18, 2012, Granderson wrote an opinion article titled "

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock ...

should be in jail" for the online CNN website, accusing

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician Ted Nugent of threatening the life of

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, based on comments from a speech Nugent gave. On June 27, 2012, Granderson published a controversial opinion article titled "Don't be nosy about Fast and Furious" for CNN's website, accusing the American public of being too nosy about the way their government functions, saluting disgraced Lieutenant Colonel

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...

for "taking one for the team" in his role in the

Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...

, and suggesting that illegal acts by government officials taken in the name of protecting the public should be hidden from public and legal scrutiny. In 2013, he defended NBA

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Jason Collins Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...

' decision to announce himself as the first openly gay male professional athlete in a major North American sport. On January 28, 2016, Granderson made his debut on the

program ''

'', losing in the "Showdown" portion of the episode to

Jackie MacMullan Jackie "Mac" MacMullan Boyle (born October 7, 1960) is a retired American freelance newspaper sportswriter and NBA columnist for the sports website ESPN.com. She retired from ESPN on August 31, 2021. She attended Westwood High School in Wes ...

. In January 2019, Granderson was named the ''

Sports and Culture Columnist. This role was created for him and will exemplify the "sectionality of sports and society ndpolitics and culture."

Awards and recognition

Granderson was the 2009 winner of the GLAAD Award for online journalism and was nominated for the award again in 2010. He received a GLAAD Award in 2022 for his ABC News

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, ''Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson.'' He is also a 2008 and 2010 honoree of the

National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, is an American professional association dedicated to unbiased coverage of LGBTQ issues in the media. It is based in Washington, D.C., and the membership consists primarily of journalists, students, e ...

for column writing, and a member of the Advisory Board for

You Can Play You Can Play is a social activism campaign dedicated to the eradication of homophobia in sports, centered on the slogan, "If you can play, you can play." The campaign was launched on March 4, 2012, by its three co-founders: Patrick Burke (a sco ...

, a campaign dedicated to fighting homophobia in sports. Granderson is also on the Board for Los Angeles-based company LGBTQ Loyalty.

Personal life

In a 2012 column for CNN.com, Granderson openly stated that he was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. Granderson has one son, Isaiah, from his previous marriage to a woman. Granderson's husband Steve Huesing is

PetSmart PetSmart is a privately held American chain of pet superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors are Amazon, Walmart, ...

's VP of Planning and interim president of Chicago's Marriage Equality USA. When the two were married in 2016,

showed pictures of his wedding on '' SportsNation'', the show he was a co-host on. Granderson spoke about this moment on the

LGBTQ&A ''LGBTQ&A'' is a podcast hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by '' The Advocate'' magazine in partnership with GLAAD. It features interviews with notable LGBTQ figures such as Pete Buttigieg, Laverne Cox, Janelle Monáe, Brandi Carlile, and R ...

podcast saying, "I really don't recall anyone else at ESPN who married their same-sex partner having those pictures up on the network prior to that day...I had to believe that there was a queer kid out there working in a bar, maybe not even having the volume on, glancing up and seeing that on ESPN. I know what that would've done for me."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granderson, LZ Living people African-American sports journalists American sports journalists American sportswriters LGBT African Americans American LGBT sportspeople Writers from Michigan American columnists 1972 births LGBT people from Michigan Sportspeople from Detroit Western Michigan University alumni Tennis commentators Gay sportsmen Columbia University fellows 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people

Early life and education

Career

Awards and recognition

Personal life

See also

References