Sportswriters are rarely heralded as cultural pillars. But Marcus Thompson II is—to use a sports term—a GOAT. A former beat writer for the Golden State Warriors and a current columnist for The Athletic, Thompson does what any memorable voice of their time does, regardless of genre: he observes deeply and speaks with a catharsis-inducing realness.

With a golden hand that produces as many as four stories a week, Thompson offers nuanced commentary and provides a rare human window into the fast-paced world of the NBA. One day he’ll break the news of Steph Curry’s players-only speech inside a locker room of defeated Warriors, and the next he’ll explain how a single dunk may cause a tectonic shift in a franchise’s roster management.