Parallel paths led Zora Stephenson and Ros Gold-Onwude to New York Liberty broadcast booth

From when Stephenson proudly included Gold-Onwude’s Stanford jersey in her sacred quilt of uniforms to being mentored by her through the Rising Stars Media program, their parallel professional journeys made it only a matter of time before they shared the broadcast booth.

That significant occasion came when Stephenson and Gold-Onwude teamed up to call the Seattle Storm-New York Liberty game on Monday, May 20.

Before this, both served as sideline reporters for NBA championship franchises, covered the Olympics and shared a connection to the Curry family. Gold-Onwude regularly interviewed Steph Curry while working for NBC Sports Bay Area, while Stephenson was a senior at Elon University when Sydel, Steph’s younger sister, was a member of the volleyball program.

“I’m super proud of her,” Gold-Onwude says of Stephenson during a recent Zoom conversation with The Next. “Zora is very serious about being excellent. I recognized it right away. Zora always seeks to be the best version of herself. She reminds me of me, in the sense that we approach broadcasting like athletes in how we can get better at our craft.”

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Stephenson and Gold-Onwude are two of the best in the business, bringing passion, enthusiasm and versatility to their craft. Their radiant personalities and deep knowledge of basketball, honed through their college careers, add depth and perspective to every broadcast. Viewers come away both educated and entertained.

In addition to Stephenson and Gold-Onwude, the Liberty’s 2024 broadcasting team includes Michael Grady, Chris Shearn, Julianne Viani-Braen and courtside reporter Tina Cervasio.

Stephenson was a four-year letter winner at Elon, a school that competes in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). Gold-Onwude, who earned Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors, played in three Final Fours and two national championships during her Stanford career. Stephenson’s basketball journey was shaped by attending a camp at Stanford — another serendipitous moment along the way.

“Stanford was where I wanted to play,” Stephenson said during a Zoom call with The Next while proudly wearing an Elon baseball cap. “I held my own, and I battled during the camp. I wanted to go at the time Ros was playing there. So, you talk about, ‘see her, be her,’ and now to be able to [go] from the little girl that wants to go to Stanford, and now I get to work with her is a full-circle moment. She’s amazing.”

Stephenson was introduced to Gold-Onwude by LaChina Robinson, the founder of the Rising Stars Media program. Their cherished camaraderie has fostered on-air chemistry and a sense of fun that shines from the broadcast booth. When Stephenson worked for the Bucks, she leaned on Gold-Onwude’s knowledge and experience, asking plenty of questions.

“I can’t believe I’m doing everything I’m doing,” Stephenson said. “I am my parents’ wildest dreams. You talk about me calling games in the play-by-play seat for the New York Liberty, the best team in the WNBA, and it’s beyond what I could ever think of. I never dreamed this. I overuse the words grateful and gratitude right now, but it’s how I feel.”

‘Enthralled by watching the WNBA’

To genuinely appreciate Stephenson and Gold-Onwude’s journeys, one must go back to their formative years. The prophetic words of enthusiastic social media personality Arielle Chambers, “the WNBA is so important,” rang true for them. With its fierce professional competition, the league influenced their careers and made an impression.

Gold-Onwude, a Queens, New York native who began playing when she was four years old, remembers listening to chalk talks from New York Liberty legends Kym Hampton and Teresa Weatherspoon. In addition, Gold-Onwude, who played at Archbishop Molloy, played against Tina Charles, who starred at Christ the King in high school and college. Charles recently became the WNBA’s second all-time leading scorer. Gold-Onwude has called a few of Charles’ games in the WNBA.

“When the WNBA started in 1997, my mom took me to games with my sister as a kid, and it meant a lot,” Gold-Onwude said. “The W and the New York Liberty have been super important. I have pictures of me and my sister going to practice. So, for me and Zora to show up on a New York Liberty broadcast, I take great pride in that.”

Growing up in northern Virginia, Stephenson had Washington Mystics season tickets. She and her friends regularly took the Metro to Capital One Arena to cheer on the Mystics, dreaming that one day it would be them playing in the WNBA.

Stephenson saw sweet moves during games and immediately went to her driveway to replicate them. Those moments watching the Mystics fueled her love for the sport.

“As a little girl, I was enthralled watching the WNBA,” Stephenson said. “I thought those women were so amazing and superhuman. The W is everything and my happy place. It brings me so much joy, and I get emotional from spreading the great gospel about New York Liberty. Sometimes, I’m calling games, and the Ellie wave is going on in the fourth quarter, and I have to remember to stay focused.”

For the record, Stephenson also counts Ellie, the hottest mascot in the WNBA with a phenomenal personality, as one of her besties.

‘A huge sisterhood’

The Liberty is one of three WNBA teams that has featured an all-Black woman broadcast crew on at least one telecast this season. Washington has Christy Winters-Scott and Meghan McPeak, while Atlanta has the triumvirate of Robinson, Angel Gray and Tabitha Turner-Wilkes calling games.

That representation matters, and it’s inspiring.

“We were aware of the representation and the stage for us to do it as two women that have had each other’s back in this industry and certainly as two Black women that, you know, are trying to ascend,” Gold-Onwude said. “It’s a huge sisterhood, which makes all the difference. There is a warm, supportive, loving and fun sisterhood of young people who are up-and-coming and established Black women in broadcasting. I feel it in the Instagram comments on social media. We are always hyping each other up.”

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When Gold-Onwude started with the Pac-12 Network, she was fortunate to have women like Robinson, Cari Champion, Stephanie Ready, Jemele Hill, Maria Taylor, Doris Burke and Holly Rowe to lean on and reach out to.

Through her Rising Stars Media program, Robinson has helped nurture and create a network of solid, stable Black broadcasters. Stephenson was in the inaugural cohort in 2018, which also featured Andraya Carter, who works for ESPN, and Isis Young, who calls games for CBS and works for Yahoo! Robinson continues to uplift and create space for Black women through her tireless advocacy.

Aside from introducing her Gold-Onwude, Stephenson credits Robinson for her accelerated career success. Another full-circle moment occurred in December when Robinson and Stephenson broadcast the Illinois-Notre Dame Citi Shamrock Classic women’s game from the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C., for NBC Sports. Young was the sideline reporter.

“Her initiative and commitment are changing lives,” Stephenson said of Robinson. “It just shows how dedicated and passionate she is about the mission. I would not be where I am today without that program. When the inaugural class was announced, I worked as a local news reporter in Denver, Colorado, trying to figure out how to get into the sports space. I have countless examples of how LaChina has helped me navigate job interviews and everything, like talking money. As women, we don’t talk about money enough, and what’s the market rate for a certain job? What started as a great mentorship has now turned into someone who’s a close friend.”

Thriving career journeys

Despite losing two of its last three games as of Aug. 28, the Liberty still owns the best record in the WNBA at 26-6 overall heading into a Friday night game at Seattle. After losing in the WNBA Finals last season to Las Vegas, New York remains one of the favorites to win its first championship in franchise history — an opportunity that means everything to Gold-Onwude and Stephenson.

In addition to showcasing their versatility over the years as reporters, hosts, analysts and writers, they understand the importance of broadcasting in the country’s largest media market.

For Gold-Onwude, this was a return to New York as she worked for the Liberty from 2011-17 in various capacities — including as a digital reporter — when they played at Madison Square Garden and the Prudential Center in Newark. Before working for the Golden State Warriors, Gold-Onwude worked with Golden State’s G-League team, Santa Cruz. After working for NBC Sports Bay Area, she worked as a sideline reporter at TNT and covered men’s basketball at the Olympics in Rio in 2016.

“We’ve been able to find our way together in New York and step up and represent the New York Liberty broadcasts, which comes with a lot of weight,” Gold-Onwude shared. “This is the top team in the WNBA. All eyes are on the Liberty. I had a couple of choices on which team broadcast I wanted to be a part of. I knew the moment was going to be at Barclays with this team. I was pumped to be able to step up as two women and two Black women to lead some of the early broadcasts for the New York Liberty. We’re excited to work with one another. It meant a lot for me, and we talked about how cool this moment is coming into the games.”

A dynamic undergraduate experience at Elon shaped Stephenson’s journey to New York. Alongside playing basketball, she took on multiple roles — tour guide, resident advisor, broadcaster and tutor. Stephenson is also a proud Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority member, sharing that distinction with vice president Kamala Harris.

Her career path was further defined by her work as an Emmy-award-winning news anchor in Denver for FOX31 and Colorado’s Own Channel 2 and covering the Milwaukee Bucks during the NBA’s Orlando bubble in 2020. Stephenson reported on significant events like floods, hurricanes and school shootings, and one of her news clips was even featured in the Netflix documentary “American Murder: The Family Next Door.”

“Elon has prepared me for every situation I’ve been in,” Stephenson said. “My head coach was Charlotte Smith, who allowed me to be me. She knew I liked to be involved in many different things, and she said, ‘Zora, just go and flourish.’ And she trusted me and said that I could handle everything. And that is what life is about, right? There are so many things that we are juggling, but it’s about being present in whatever job that you’re doing. I take those experiences everywhere I go and it gives me great perspective. That’s why I have so much joy and passion for what I’m doing in the sports space.”

Stephenson honed her ability to adapt on live television, navigate deadlines and communicate clearly, skills that proved invaluable when she merged her hard news background with sports reporting. She recalls a defining moment of her career came during the NBA bubble when the Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott and not play their scheduled playoff game against the Orlando Magic in 2020.

Despite being in Milwaukee, Stephenson’s authenticity and poise allowed her to keep Bally Sports/Fox Wisconsin viewers informed. She captured the emotions of the Bucks’ locker room, connecting them to a hurting community.

“I don’t rate things, but that might be one of the proudest moments of my career, which was being with Marques Johnson and Jim Paschke on that broadcast when the Bucks decided not to play after Jacob Blake was shot,” Stephenson reflected. “I vividly remember it was August 26 because it was my husband’s birthday, and that’s when the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play against the Orlando Magic in that playoff game, which sparked sports teams in every league deciding not to play in boycotting to stand up for what’s right. We were on live television for two hours.”

Since that moment in the bubble, Stephenson made history by being the first American-born Black woman to call an NBA game in 2021. She also called Caitlin Clark‘s historic moment of becoming the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball for Peacock.

Good timing meeting the work

Before heading to Paris for the Olympics, Stephenson sought advice from Gold-Onwude, who had covered the 2016 Rio Games. Initially set to cover the women’s national basketball team, Gold-Onwude stepped in for the men’s team when Craig Sager fell ill — an opportunity she earned through her stellar work with the Warriors.

“Sometimes a little luck, blessing or whatever you believe in — good timing when it meets the work and the passion is a great combination,” Gold-Onwude shared. “Those are skills that I got from playing ball. There have been many similarities in Zora’s path, such as whether she got a big break with an explosive, talented team, much like I did. I am glad we are connected.”

When Stephenson began her role as the Bucks’ sideline reporter, she frequently texted Gold-Onwude for guidance, further strengthening their friendship.

“I’ll never forget one of the first conversations that Ros and I had,” Stephenson said. “She said a mentee-mentor relationship goes two ways. I leaned on her for many different things and she has called me too. It’s fulfilling when you can have those two relationships, and for us to finally get to work together has been so fun.”

In addition to interviewing LeBron James and A’ja Wilson during the Olympics, Stephenson also covered gymnastics and enjoyed multiple interviews with Simone Biles. While Stephenson’s work was fantastic, her postgame discussion with Wilson after the USA women won its eighth straight gold medal became viral.

When asked to describe Kahleah Copper, Wilson gave her a new nickname heard worldwide: a mic-drop moment.

“I asked her for one word,” Stephenson said, laughing. “She did not understand the assignment. She gave me two words in ways that only A’ja Wilson can. And I thought it was fitting. She was speaking facts. Overall, the Olympics was unbelievable. I was so honored. You talk about that little girl that grew up going to WNBA games, and to now have a front-row seat to that greatness, I have to pinch myself.”

With the WNBA surging in popularity, Gold-Onwude and Stephenson embraced the opportunity to contribute to the game’s expansion. Their deep knowledge, connections and genuine joy make them valuable during broadcasts. Their humility and dedication to mentoring the next generation have made them relatable, respected and treasures of excellence.

“I’ve always been 10 toes down on both the WNBA and NBA and men’s and women’s college hoops,” Gold-Onwude said. “I’ve been covering it since 2011, but I’ve been contributing as a player for decades before that. I’ve seen a lot of great coaches. I’ve played for a lot of great coaches. I’ve seen and played against historic players … Seeing the hype around women’s basketball and the WNBA and how electric it is in Barclays, you’re talking about sellouts. This is a hot ticket in New York and a place for the cool kids. It’s about time, and I don’t think it’s a phase or a moment. This is momentum into the future.”

Although Stephenson will miss broadcasting Liberty games in September due to her commitments with Notre Dame football for NBC, she remains a dedicated fan. Barclays Center has been buzzing all season with enthusiastic crowds, lively game-day experiences, and a talented team featuring some of the biggest names in the world.

“The Liberty’s gameday experience is second to none,” Stephenson said. “I’ve been to many WNBA arenas, and I’m not just saying this because I work with the Liberty, but it’s the best. When they make it deep into the playoffs, I will be there as a fan because that will be fun. The W is the catalyst for so much of what I’m doing now. The Liberty has such an amazing broadcast team. All of us are doing different things, but Liberty is so important to us, right? That speaks to how great this team is.”

If the Liberty season ends in a confetti shower following a championship victory, Stephenson and Gold-Onwude will have another reason to take a few more photos together.