About

I started off as a blogger. After a few years writing a sports blog with Sporting News I was forced to find new digs when they shut down their blogging section. Intrigued by the ubiquity of Bleacher Report hits I sent them an application and was accepted as a writer in August of 2010.

One year and 10 days later I hit one million reads, more than double what I'd received in the three years of private blogging I'd done before that. I've also had my work linked by Yahoo, ESPN, Fox Sports, and the LA Times, and that's just what I know of.

I became a featured columnist after a few months and have become one of the more widely read NBA writers on B/R since then. I occasionally do write about other things, but the NBA is my main beat.

In August of 2011 I was given the opportunity to conduct my first interview and it was with none other than Dwyane Wade! That was quite a thrill for me.

In November of 2011 I begin getting paid by B/R to write for the TNT section which covers breaking news stories. Then upon the NBA Lockout ending (finally) I was moved to the NBA section.

Now I am fulfilling my life-long dream to be paid to write about sports. The definition of a dream job is being able to tell your wife, "Not now, I'm working," when she asks you to do something when you're watching the Bulls.

Writing for B/R has been great for me, giving me more exposure and opportunities than I ever would have gotten on my own. They aim to be a place where amateur sportswriters can prove their mettle and they've allowed me to do that.

As far as my sports loyalties go, I'm Chicago all the way in all things but baseball. There, I'm a Cards fan, always have been and always will be. How can that be you ask?

Well, I haven't always been in Chicago. I grew up around the world. When I was 10 years old I was living in a place (North Dakota) with no professional baseball team.I was just getting into the sport and my parents weren't into it at all. I had no natural loyalty so I decided the next team they announced on the radio would be my favorite.

Then the announcer said, "The St. Louis Cardinals lost.... And they became my favorite team. I ran upstairs to check the standings, and lo and behold, they were in dead last. There best hitter was a guy named Garry Templeton. They traded him for a guy who couldn't hit worth a lick a month later, and thus a new era of Cardinal baseball commenced.

When I moved to Chicago in 1998 (on the very day that Jordan retired) I changed all my sports loyalties to Chicago. It was just easier to follow the local teams. The one team I couldn't change was the Cardinals. There's no way a life long Cardinal fan can become a Cubs fan and I live on the North side.

Why would I want a lifetime of disappointment and discouragement?

I finally set up a twitter account recently. If you would like to follow me on twitter, you can find me here.
http://twitter.com/#!/kellyscaletta

Short List

  • Favorite Athletes

    Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright, Derrick Rose

  • Favorite Sports Teams

    St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks

  • All Time Sports Moment

    Ozzie Smith's home run in the NL Championship

  • Most Memorable Game Attended

    Scott Erickson's no hitter

  • Most Unbreakable Sports Record

    Nolan Ryan's Career Strikeouts

  • Ruth or Mays?

    Ruth on his pitching

  • Unitas or Montana?

    Unitas, on innovations

  • Jordan or Russell?

    Jordan, on pure amazingness

  • Gretzky or Orr?

    Gretzky was simply the greatest

  • Pele or Maradona?

    Pele

  • Federer or Sampras?

    Federer

  • Tiger or Nicklaus?

    Tiger, unless it's about who's the better husband

  • Petty or Earnhardt?

    Which one?

  • Schumacher or Senna?

    Huh?

  • ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 or SEC?

    SEC (if it's football)

Bulletin Board

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or to post this comment
  • abu se posted 2 days ago

    abu se

    http://apple.freebiejeebies.co.uk/770124

    you can go to this link and get a free gift. first you must complete one offer and get referrals based on the product.

    research first

  • TheLakerOne posted 3 days ago

    TheLakerOne

    Hey Kelly, dont get me wrong, I do not think the world is up of Clipper bandwaggoners and Laker fans. There are enough Laker bandwaggoners out there. Also, I dont care of they are Clippers, Lakers or whatever, I just cant stand them. And of course I dont think you are one of them.

  • Wally Castelaz posted 4 days ago

    Wally Castelaz

    Hey Kelly, I really appreciate you sticking up for Boozer in your last article. I agree that he doesn't deserve all the criticism he gets. Yes, he's overpaid, but what quality big man (with Boozer's offensive skill ) isn't? Something I noticed about his efficiency is that no one in the league who has his midrange efficiency has his RA efficiency, and his efficiency inside the paint is one of the best in the league. Another thing is, the Bulls run an offense centered around Rose's driving. In order to keep the paint open, Boozer is often at the elbow or baseline shooting jumpers. While his jumpshot is accurate, judging by his interior efficiency and some old Utah games I watched, his post up game is where his strength truly lies.

    What I'm saying is that he's had to alter his game to benefit the team (I'm not sure I could name many players who would be willing, and most importantly able to make such a change). Everyone keeps talking about how the Bulls need a second scorer. I actually think that Boozer is skilled enough to be that second scorer, but he's used within the offense as more of a role player. Now the Bulls know that Rose needs to pace himself and not go 200mph for 48 minutes. When Rose dials back, that's the perfect opportunity for the Bulls to utilize Boozer inside; they could take advantage of having the best passing frontcourt in the NBA by having Boozer and Noah run a 2-man high-low game, or they could do a bit of an inside-out with Boozer in the post and Deng/Korver/Hamilton/Rose spotting up.

    As a final thought, I think Boozer's defense is actually not terrible like people say it is. At least by my observations, he's an average defensive power forward. We all hear how he misses rotations etc. First of all, everyone misses the occasional rotation. Also, Thibodeau's defense is one that is difficult for any bigs that aren't at least 'good' defenders. Look at the bigs he's coached in Boston and Chicago; Garnett, Perkins, Noah, Gibson, Asik.

    What are your thoughts?

  • Mufc 19 posted 10 days ago

    Mufc 19

    I recently read your article on why the Bulls shouldn't be broken up. I just wanted to ask u something. While, this Bulls team is championship caliber aren't players like Boozer and Deng approaching their 30s while Rose is still like 24. So won't trading them for younger assets, tanking the next season with the ACL injury and a combination of high 2013 draft pick, Mirotic and the Charlotte pick be better for building a dynasty?

  • Emily Stewart posted 11 days ago

    Emily Stewart

    Hi Kelly,

    Per B/R style guidelines, seeds should be notated as the following:

    The acceptable constructions are "No. 1 seed" (or No. 2 seed, etc.) and "eighth seed" (or "eighth-seeded," etc.) instead of of "#1 seed," "number one seed," "1 seed," or "one seed." Note also that there is a space between the period and the digit in "No. 1."

    By ranking construction, I meant using the No. in front of the numeral. You can use the numeral for seeding, but it has to include the "No." in front of it.

    Hope this helps! Sorry for the delay in getting back to you...

  • Sublime posted 15 days ago

    Sublime

    Spent the past few days creating a database of this seasons defensive statistics from Synergy which I know you're fond of. Interestingly, John Lucas III is first among point guards in most categories, including OFG%, Iso and P+R Ball Handler. Surely you can only attribute so much of that ranking to the small sample size/help? Especially when CJ Watson's statistics are dreadful in comparison.

    A trend I'm shocked at so far is the number of undersized players that are dominating defensively. Would like to hear your take on it as I've seen articles in the past where you've seen the story in the statistics.

  • Emily Stewart posted 16 days ago

    Emily Stewart

    Just goes to show how fast the news changes...thanks for the heads up!

  • E G posted 21 days ago

    E G

    Offseason trades for each NBA team?

  • Zach Dulin posted 23 days ago

    Zach Dulin

    Your article on the top playoff performers was really good...however you did make a mistake on the final slide. Michael jordan did have a shot that rings pain for all Jazz fans but that is not what is referred to as "The Shot." The Utah game was a reference to the 1998 playoffs i assume whereas "The Shot" was against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1989 playoffs, both were great plays but only one can be "The Shot."

  • Zia Paul posted 25 days ago

    Zia Paul

    The bad part about this whole thing is: it isn't just the fans. You would expect people who get paid to watch and write about sports to give an analytical and thought provoking opinion on the matter, but they don't. These same people were in love with Thibs last month, loathe him now. These same people who believed him to be a brilliant coach, think he should stick to being an assistant. Bulls fans may be loyal, but they can be harsh and overly critical as well. I haven't even been on B/R as much because of the ridiculousness that is going on with some of the writers.

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