Zachary Curtis Lowe (born August 24, 1977 ) is an American sportswriter, journalist, and podcaster. After starting his journalistic career covering the criminal justice system in his home state of
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, Lowe transitioned to
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
reporting and is today considered one of the premier columnists covering the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA).
Education
Lowe is an alumnus of
Greenwich High School
Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students.
It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cu ...
in
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...
. He graduated from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
in 1999 with a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
. He spent two years as a teacher at Cresskill High School in New Jersey before earning a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in
American history
The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...
(with a thesis on the post-Civil War Reconstruction) from the
College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...
. He began doctoral studies in American history at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
before switching to
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
, earning a
Master of Science
A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
from the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...
.
Career
For nearly four years, beginning in August 2004, Lowe worked as a crime, government, and courts reporter for his local Stamford Advocate; then spent two years with
The American Lawyer
''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.Rob Neyer and John Hollinger, but he attributes his journalism skills to his beat-writer days.
In 2010, he started running the "Point Forward" NBA column-blog on ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
.'' In 2012, Lowe was hired by
Bill Simmons
William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American podcaster, Sports journalism, sportswriter, and cultural critic who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer''. Simmons fir ...
to join
Grantland
''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...
as an NBA analyst. In 2015, after the closing of Grantland, his contract was picked up by Grantland's parent company,
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
. In 2016, Lowe was pursued by
Bleacher Report
''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...
but ultimately re-signed with ESPN on a multi-year contract.
Lowe hosted a weekly podcast called "The Lowe Post", which featured mainly casual chats with other journalists, players, or coaches/GMs about the NBA. He also wrote a weekly NBA article during the season for ESPN headlined as "Ten Things I Like And Don't Like, Including...".
Lowe moderated the 2016 Basketball Analytics panel of the MIT-Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
On September 26, 2024, Lowe was laid off by ESPN, officially leaving the network.
On March 31, 2025, Bill Simmons announced that Zach Lowe would be joining The Ringer podcast network following his dismissal from ESPN six months prior.
Writing style
Lowe is known for his detailed posts on basketball, use of video clips, and clear writing style. He writes about the entire NBA, unlike many sportswriters who are concerned about a single team. Lowe has cited his early-career work as a court reporter for his evidence-based and balanced approach.
In 2013, Will Leitch called Lowe "one of the best basketball writers working right now" and "certainly the most interesting."
Josh Levin
Joshua Benjamin Levin (born March 15, 1980) is an American writer and the national editor at ''Slate'' magazine. Levin also hosts the magazine's sports podcast, '' Hang Up and Listen.''
Biography
Early life
Levin was born and raised in New O ...
, writing in
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
, called Lowe "America's best sports writer."
Personal
Lowe's grandparents immigrated from
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. He is married to Croatian international media consultant Vesna Jaksic, whom he met when both worked for the Stamford Advocate. They have a daughter and reside in Connecticut.