From Elon to the Olympics: Former college basketball player on NBC broadcast crew in Paris

She tested positive for COVID-19 in 2021, missing a chance to cover her first Olympic Games because of it.

But that didn’t stop Zora Stephenson from making it happen this year. The Elon alum has already jumped onto the reporting scene in Paris and she‘s just getting started.

After COVID kept Stephenson from going to the Tokyo Olympics, she’s in France covering her first summer Olympics as she reports on gymnastics and basketball at the Paris Games.

“I missed the entire games,” Stephenson said. “So the past three years literally have been me working to make sure that I made it to Paris so this is a really big moment personally for me to be here.”

She made it happen and she isn’t new to covering world sports superstars. Before working with NBC, Stephenson was a reporter and broadcaster for the Milwaukee Bucks, making history in 2021 when she became the first woman to do play-by-play for the NBA team, just one step in the journey of the five-time Emmy award winner.

So what does a day look like in the life of an NBC Olympics reporter? Here’s a breakdown on what Zora Stephenson’s schedule is today.

• Wake up

• Quick 15 minute bodyweight workout in hotel room

• Breakfast

• Pre-production meeting

• Hair + makeup

• Reported on session 2 of gymnastics qualification for NBC (session with Team USA)

• Follow along with last three sessions at Bercy Arena

• Coverage for NBC Night time show

• Record podcast episode for NBC Sports “The Podium” podcast

• Go to sleep

• Do it all over again

While she might not have any downtime reporting on some of the world’s top athletes, she’s determined to try some treats in France.

“I’m telling my bosses, hopefully I have time for a croissant in the middle of all these assignments,” she laughs. “But yeah, it’s just a joy to watch the greatest in the world do what they do.”

These next two weeks she has the opportunity to cover the greatest gymnast of all-time in Simone Biles, who posted a massive 59.566 in qualifications on Sunday, more than three points ahead of her teammate and Tokyo Olympic All-Around champion, Sunisa Lee. She’ll also report about basketball stars including Steph Curry and A’ja Wilson.

A women’s basketball player at Elon from 2011-15, Stephenson’s playing career is over, but her coverage is far from it. She has added one other goal for her time in Paris - take a shot on the basketball court. She’s got a good chance of making it since she set Elon’s single-season record for 3-point accuracy (42.3%) in 2011-12.

“Once a hooper, always a hooper,” Stephenson said. “Specifically with basketball, I was never that good at my sport like I was never in a position to even be talking about going to the Olympics but I found a way in a different avenue.”

“I just keep coming back to gratitude. It’s crazy when you hear the ball bouncing - it’s hard not to want to pick it up and shoot some hoops so maybe I should have a goal to get a shot up on the Olympic court.”

She’ll be moving around Paris the next two weeks covering women’s and men’s gymnastics and women’s and men’s basketball.

Anna Laible is a student with UNC Media Hub, a program with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris. She hosts the Speak Up Sports Podcast. Follow her journey covering her first Olympics on her Instagram (@anna_laible).