Elevate with Robert Glazer Elevate Classics: Henry Abbott On Founding TrueHoop, His ESPN Career, And How To Train To Prevent Injury
Jan 22, 2026
Henry Abbott, an award-winning sports journalist and founder of TrueHoop, dives into his journey from journalism student to ESPN's NBA digital lead. He discusses the rise of TrueHoop from a blog and his groundbreaking investigative reporting on NBA doping practices. Abbott challenges injury prevention norms, sharing insights from his book, Ballistic, about effective training and recovery. He emphasizes the importance of varied play for kids and offers surprising training tips, like the role of hip mobility and sleep in performance. A mix of sports innovation and personal stories awaits!
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From One Interview To A Career
- Henry Abbott discovered sports journalism after a one-off $100 freelance basketball interview sparked his passion.
- That short favor led him to cover the NBA for decades and launch TrueHoop years later.
TrueHoop's Rapid Rise
- Henry started TrueHoop on Blogger at Christmas 2004 after a friend set it up for him.
- The blog rapidly gained traction, earning early attention from Forbes and Google and eventually led to ESPN acquiring TrueHoop.
Writer-First But Hard To Discover
- Substack restores the writer-first model but lacks discoverability compared with early blogging.
- Henry warns that great writing can remain siloed without improved discovery mechanisms.
