Professional Basketball Player Turned Podcaster

Professional Basketball Player Turned Podcaster

We decided to sit down with Travis Reed, a former professional basketball player, to seek information about his journey within the career and how he has been after.

Travis Reed

The obvious icebreaker question was what made him become a basketball player?  

“What made me want to become a basketball player is that it was my dream. I was a kid who grew up in South Central Los Angeles trying to make it out of the hood with gang violence, Reed explained, he went on to mention that he was raised by both of his parents and began to play sports to get out of the terrible situation of living in Los Angeles. “I played basketball in LA with a lot of former NBA players, such as Baron Davis and Paul Pierce, just to name a few. I became one of the best players in the country playing AAU All-Star basketball. I ended up winning the city and state championship for the basketball powerhouse Crenshaw High School, before transferring and becoming one of the Top 30 players in the country in high school. I was part of the number one recruiting class in the country going to UCLA,” he went on. Reed played at UCLA for two years and before transferring to Long Beach State University where he was First Tea All Big West for two years. After graduating school, Reed went to play professional basketball overseas in places such as Bogata, Columbia, Holland, Estonia, Australia, Ukraine, Germany, and Romania just to name a few. 

We went on to ask about what Reed believed to be his own personal accomplishment within his career?  

“My greatest accomplishment as a basketball player was in 2004, when I won the regular season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, MVP of the Championship Series, and EuroBasket Player of the Year all in the country of Holland. My team, MPC Capitals won the Country Championship,” Reed shared, “that was a great year!” 

The next question dabbed into any challenges he had to overcome.  

“I overcame a challenge as a player after an injury. I had a stress fracture in my shin, and I missed half of the season overseas. A lot of people thought I wasn’t going to be the same player after my surgery, but I was an All-Star in the league and lead my team on to the Championship Finals, only losing in Game 7.” 

Wondering how Reed stayed focused throughout the years, we asked how was his work ethic?  

“My work ethic was hard because of two things. One, I was trying to get out of the environment I was raised in, and two – I had a military father who raised me, so hard work wasn’t an opinion, it was the only thing.” 

Wrapping it up, we asked what Reed is currently up to? 

“Currently, I am a Territory Manager for a company called Swisher International and I manage about 500 stores. I also have three Podcasts, An Athlete’s Journey, BLEAV in UCLA, and He Said She Said.” These are all available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, and IHeartRadio. 

Travis Reed 

“Stay on the grind, stay humble and never stop chasing what you want to do.”

- Travis Reed 

You can reach out to Mr. Reed by clicking here.

Back to blog

Leave a comment