Taylor Rooks On Why Athletes Say Outlandish Things Her Interviews: “I Think People Confuse The Fact That I Can Ask A Good Question With The Way That I Look”

Taylor Rooks came in at 18th on the Top 25 Most Entertaining Sports Media Personalities list, with good reason. Rooks has been a rising star in the industry since signing with Bleacher Report and Turner Sports.

In the last few years, she has become one of the premier journalists in the multimedia space, and she’s only growing and getting better with time.

The Illinois graduate worked her way up from Scout.com to linear television, and she deserves credit for that. However, as someone often spoken of for her looks, she never wants to discredit the work she has put in as a journalist.

In an interview with Complex Sports, Rooks opened up about how social media reacts to viral sit-downs. In some instances, NBA fans believe players make outrageous claims about their game or skill to impress her, which, in turn, make for a viral moment. But, for Rooks, it’s less about her looks and more about the fact that she’s good at her job.

“I will say I have seen the tweets,” Rooks said. “This belief that if a players gets in front of me, they’re just gonna say whatever.”

“I don’t agree with the narrative,” she continued. “I think that people confuse just the fact that I can ask a good question with the way that I look. And I think without even realizing it, it can be a bit diminishing to the work that I put in for the interview. I obviously understand that it is flattering, you know, to maybe talk about the way that I look, and things like that can’t be the only thing that people say,” Rooks said.

“This happens on men’s podcasts all the time that athletes come on there and say something wild, but nobody says that it’s because of the man. They say, ‘Oh, that was good conversation.’ So I think that narrative really should shift to the way that I prepare and the things that I’m able to get out of somebody,” she added. 

Rooks is one of many women breaking into the male-dominated sports media industry. Check out the clip from her Complex interview below.

@complexsports

@Taylor Rooks has seen the tweets, but she doesn’t agree #taylorrooks #nbainterview #nflinterview #womeninsports

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