Cleveland Cavaliers News

If you are an NBA fan and love to dig for news and find rumors, you probably came across a site called, Hoopshype.

The Wall Street Journal published (subscription required) a great article about Hoopshype and the influence it has on the NBA.

“Mr. Marin confesses he attended his first NBA game last year in Los Angeles. “It was boring,” he says. He points across the table at Mr. Sierra. “But it’s one more game than he’s been to.”

The soft-spoken Mr. Sierra is embarrassed to admit he’d never attended an NBA game in the U.S. before he traveled to New Orleans last month for the All-Star game.”

The site has such an influence on the sport that General managers, agents, and sportswriters log on every morning to Hoopshype.com for the latest in news and gossip.

“I like the fact that what I do has an impact on the NBA outside of my country,” says Hoopshype founder Jorge Sierra.

“It’s required reading for every member of my staff,” says Bill Duffy, an NBA agent in Walnut Creek, Calif.

The site started in 2002 by Mr. Sierra. He worked as a writer for “a women’s basketball Web site. He says he was shocked to discover that it was making money, so he bought a manual on how to create a Web site and launched Hoopshype.com. It began as a technical and financial disaster, crashing once a week and drawing no advertisers. Mr. Sierra eventually found a stable of U.S. writers to contribute articles at $25 a shot. He used his connections with European pro basketball teams to land interviews with players who were drawing attention from U.S. teams. ”

“Hoopshype taps a lengthy source list of agents, players and executives to confirm stories and break news. In 2004, according to Mr. Sierra, they were the first to report the Lakers were trading Gary Payton to Boston.”

“What most distinguishes Hoopshype is the critical mass of movers and shakers who read it daily. Even when the rumors prove false, the site acts as a catalyst. One morning in October 2005, a Hoopshype item caught the eye of Larry Harris, the former general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks: A New York tabloid was reporting that the New Orleans Hornets wanted to trade Jamaal Magloire.

The story turned out to be wrong. But the rumor prompted Mr. Harris to call the Hornets to find out if they were willing to deal. Two days later, Mr. Magloire was on his way to Milwaukee. Mr. Harris says he routinely calls other general managers in the league based on tips from Hoopshype.”

Last year, Fantasy Sports Ventures (FSV) bought the site for “low-seven figures,” according to Chris Russo, the chief executive. Sierra, Barrigón and Marin still run the site.

So what’s the latest rumor on Hoopshype?