Space City exclusive interview with Rockets’ reporter Vanessa Richardson

In an exclusive interview with Space City Scoop, NBC sports reporter Vanessa Richardson spoke with us about her first season covering the Houston Rockets, James Harden’s legacy, Larry Bird, Tex-Mex, and more!

Recently, I was fortunate enough to interview KPRC sports reporter Vanessa Richardson, who is in her first year covering the Houston Rockets. In a phone interview on Wednesday, we discussed Tex-Mex, Larry Bird being one of the all-time greatest, Jon Gruden impersonations, and a whole lot more!

Here’s what she had to say during our interview!

We’re in an interesting time right now with no live sports action. What’s this period of social distancing been like for you?

Luckily I’m still working, so there’s been plenty of sports news in Houston, starting with the DeAndre Hopkins trade and the most recent updates on the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.

I’m also at an NBC station so we’ve been doing lots of interviews with Olympic athletes as well. So I’ve luckily still been able to cover sports.

Have you watched anything on Netflix or anything else that caught your attention?

As far as Netflix goes, I watched The Tiger King, which everybody watched. I thought that was a really interesting watch, but it was one of those things where if you didn’t watch it, you were going to be out of the loop in conversations.

I also watched Little Fires Everywhere on HBO and I really liked that. I usually don’t have time to binge watch television or Netflix, but I’ve had more time than usual, simply because you can’t go anywhere. You can’t go out to eat or go to the gym, so I’ve had more time.

From watching you on KPRC and especially on Sports Sunday, I can tell you’re a basketball enthusiast. How did you develop this love for the game?

Being from Indiana, I’m a basketball freak. That’s what I grew up watching. On Friday nights, we would go to a packed gym and watch a basketball game, or we would check out an AAU game.

I’m from Terre Haute, which is about an hour away from Indianapolis. Back when I was growing up and in high school, we were in the same conference as the Indianapolis schools, so we were seeing amazing talent.

So I’ve always loved basketball and it’s been deeply ingrained in me.

This is your first year covering the Houston Rockets. What’s it been like being around the team?

It’s been awesome! What’s really cool about covering the Rockets is they’re a flashy team, in that they’ve got two superstars in James Harden and Russell Westbrook who are both very fashionable.

Basketball, as I always knew it, was very blue-collar and the exact opposite of flashy. So I’m seeing a different side of professional basketball, which is not a bad thing at all. It’s a very different side of pro basketball, which is really cool.

Next: Rockets' season, Gruden impersonation, Larry Bird