NASCAR fixture Shannon Spake enjoying shifting gears, returning to Hornets’ TV roots
Buried in a busy schedule that requires a constant shuffling of virtual hats, Shannon Spake doesn’t have a whole lot of time on her hands.
That leaves little opportunity for “pinch-me” moments.
Occasionally, though, Spake can step back and bask in the glow of a run in sports television spanning more than two decades, fueled now a role as a host/reporter for Charlotte Hornets’ telecasts on FanDuel Sports Southeast.
“Yeah, it’s almost a dream to have a career for 20 years,” Spake said. “I was doing NFL for eight years and obviously still do NASCAR, but to be able to pivot 20 years into a career and kind of start something quote-unquote new … I had covered college basketball. The last time was 2015.
“And I’ve really never covered the NBA. I covered the NBA Draft one time. And so at this point in my career to kind of start something brand new, learn a new language, be around new people and to operate with this team, it truly is a dream come true.”
Hired in September to slide into the position previously occupied by Ashley ShahAhmadi since 2018, Spake is enjoying this career twist.
Following stints at ESPN and FOX Sports — the latter where she worked from 2016-2024 as part of the network’s NASCAR, NFL and college football and basketball coverage — Spake is returning to her Carolina roots so to speak.
A Florida Atlantic University graduate and a native of the Sunshine State, Spake relocated to Charlotte in 2003 to work for WCCB-TV and joined now-defunct regional sports network C-SET in 2004 as the Charlotte Bobcats’ reporter and producer.
In 2005, Spake left the Bobcats to work for FOX Sports’ now-defunct SPEED Channel.
Two decades later, she’s returned and thrilled. She’s been exhilarated since receiving the call during the summer informing her she was being offered one of the industry’s most high-profile positions: hosting an NBA team’s live pregame and postgame shows, while also contributing to the broadcast with sideline reporting and adding a unique behind-the-scenes perspective.
“It was really exciting,” Spake said. “I had to go through a couple of interviews and go through the process. I think that the main thing was just kind of being with the team all the time, if the travel would be in the way and if I was OK and if I was cool with that. Starting, there was probably some hesitations. I wasn’t a basketball girl? I had been doing racing and NFL for so long, but because I had that background from my time at ESPN college basketball …
“And that’s one of the cool things, too, is I see some of these players that I covered in 2014, 2015. Phoenix Suns, for example, the entire team was part of that 2015 draft — with Devin Booker and Tyus Jones, Bradley Beal — I covered in school. Even the other day Anthony Davis was in here. And that was one of my very first basketball assignments, was the 2012 national championship game.
“And I still have a picture of me interviewing a freshman Anthony Davis. So, now seeing them many years later, doing what they’re doing and living their dreams is one of the coolest parts of the job.”
Ahead of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, The Observer spoke with Spake about working alongside Eric Collins and Dell Curry, how being embedded with the team plays a role in her job, her NASCAR roots and more.
Roderick Boone: How has covering other sports, like being a sideline reporter at NFL games, help build your skills and assist in reaching this stage in your career with the Hornets?
Shannon Spake: From the moment that I started in this industry in 2006, I wanted to be diverse. I did not want to do just one sport. And NASCAR, when you cover NASCAR, that’s really hard to branch out, because it’s such a long season. So, I worked really, really hard early in my career. I didn’t really have offseasons. I barely had any time off, even when I had young kids, in order to be in a position that I’m in right now in my career. Which is why I can plug and play.
I can go where you need me to go and do any sport that you ask me to do. And so that’s always been something that’s very important. I think that it translates across all sports. These are humans, these are stories, these are people. Let’s tell the stories of those people and that’s what I try to do.
And it’s all about relationships and having the opportunity to kind of spend as much time with this team as I get, that’s so great to be able to build the relationships, have the trust. That makes the postgame interviews better, that makes the endgame hits better.
RB: You mentioned gaining the team’s trust. As someone who is embedded with the team and gets behind-the-scenes access, what is that like?
SS: I love it. I love being able to travel with the team and seeing the guys, whether they’re winning or they’re losing, and get to spend time with them, get to know them one-on-one. One of the things I’ve tried to do this year is the Hornets’ hometown hang, where when we go to the hometown for some of these players and just get to sit with them one-on-one.
Because you don’t really get that opportunity a lot. And so to be able to sit down and get to know them a little bit, again, it’s all about building those relationships.
RB: Can you explain your journey and getting to this point as a woman in an industry traditionally dominated by men?
SS: I have said it a million times and I’ll say it again: I think hard work is genderless. And I think if you work hard, and you show people that you care and you respect what they’re doing by being prepared every single time you come into their space, whether it be pregame or shootaround, I think that they recognize that and those doors are going to open.
There are times obviously I’m the only woman in the room, at the table, on the field. But I never feel like being a woman has prevented me from getting things.
RB: With the shift in jobs, different schedule and travel, how tough is it juggling being a mother of twin boys?
SS: It’s obviously getting easier with them being 15 now and getting closer to driving. So, I guess it gets easier but it also gets harder. Because now they recognize that I’m gone. But I’ve been traveling their whole lives. So, it’s almost like I have my systems in place to be able to handle it.
Certainly getting home at 2:30 in the morning from a game, and then getting up and taking them to school three hours later has been one of the biggest adjustments for me with this job. But for me, I’m raising two boys to watch their mom, a woman, go to work and work really hard and do something that she loves. And it makes me better....
I’ve worked really hard to be in the position that I’m in and I know my kids recognize that.
RB: You’ve had a lengthy career covering NASCAR, and Charlotte is a hotbed for the sport with many of auto racing team headquarters located in the area. How enjoyable is it to do that in this market?
SS: NASCAR was my first love. Not in terms of me being a fan and growing up. But it was the first thing that I got to cover. I started in 2005. This will be my 20th season covering racing and my show, my daily show — NASCAR Daily with Shannon Spake — is going to start the Monday after Daytona. So, I’ll be doing that from the road in my hotel room. Sometimes after a West Coast late game.
But I love the sport and I love the people that are in the sport. And I’ve been doing it for so long that the relationships I’ve built are so incredible. I’ve said it a million times — it’s about relationships. And that’s the biggest thing for me with NASCAR. The people that I was an up-and-coming reporter with are now running the sport. And that’s the coolest thing to kind of see people live their dreams.
RB: What is the toughest part of your job? Doing your in-game sideline hits properly, not cursing on air?
SS: I think for me, the hardest part when I first started was learning the language. It’s not like a new language, it’s a new dialect. Because NBA calls are a different term than NFL or NASCAR, in terms of everything. And so (it’s) kind of learning those without messing up.
I remember I messed some names up and Twitter went crazy. And I was like, ‘I’m shocked that it took me that long to make that mistake. Because you’re walking such a tight, tight, fine line, trying to learn on the fly. The first month, the first couple weeks now, you’re kind of like in the groove.
I think the hardest part is getting home as late as we get. Even home games — 11:30 at night is still later than I’ve been used to in my career, at least the last eight years. So, you’ve got to give yourself grace. It’s OK to take a nap. It’s OK to wake up a little bit later because you have a long day. And so those are the things that I’ve had to adjust to.
RB: What’s it like working with play-by-play man Eric Collins and analyst Dell Curry?
SS: Terrible, terrible (laughting). I’ve known Eric for a little bit. We’re on the same networking group together, so I’ve known Eric for a little bit. This is the first time I’ve really gotten to know Dell and so many times in my career I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Because who you work with, can make a huge difference as to how that job is.
And not only Dell and Eric, but Erik Kendall our producer, Stephen Daily, our director, all of the folks here at the Hornets. Everyone is just so easy going, and cool, and low maintenance, and no egos, and it’s just really kind of easy to move and operate. And that makes all the difference.
That makes all the long nights, and the losses, and everything that we’re kind of going through in an 82-game schedule — sitting out in California for three days, not knowing what we’re going to do — it makes everything so much better because the people around you are so cool.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 5:15 AM with the headline "NASCAR fixture Shannon Spake enjoying shifting gears, returning to Hornets’ TV roots."
