If you ever hear the expression “Ay, naku!” in an NBA broadcast one day, it would be safe to assume it's Cassidy Hubbarth on the mic.
Hubbarth only knows a few Filipino phrases but she proudly represents her Filipino roots wherever she goes, and that includes the NBA. Her mother Emmeline was born and raised in the Philippines, while her father Gerry is German-Irish.
Hubbarth and her family, both in the U.S. and the Philippines, are huge basketball fans. Ever since she was 12 or 13 years old, she knew that she wanted to work in sports media. Aside from sideline reporting, she also hosts ESPN’s digital show Hoop Streams. She hosted more NBA shows in previous years, including NBA Tonight, NBA Coast to Coast, Sportscenter on Snapchat, and The Hoop Collective podcast.
“I grew up in the Chicago area during the '90s, during the '90s Bulls, during the Jordan era. I think that was really the driving force of my NBA fandom,” Hubbarth said in an interview with Nikko Ramos on NBA Philippines’ Republika Huddle.
Hubbarth was a three-sport athlete at Evanston Township High School. Even though she was encouraged to specialize in soccer, she could not let go of basketball.
“The NBA was always my first love, and basketball was always my first love as far as sports is concerned. I played a lot of sports growing up but basketball was my favorite,” she said.
Hubbarth is just one of the many Filipino-Americans in the NBA. One of the longest in the league is Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, who, according to Hubbarth, is also known as “Phil-ipino” Jackson among the NBA media.
Then, of course, you have Utah Jazz guard and last season’s Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson and Houston Rockets rookie Jalen Green, who made history early this season for being the first two players of Filipino descent to play in an NBA game together.
“Those are two guys that not only are swaggy but have serious confidence,” Hubbarth said about Clarkson and Green. “If I’ve had even just an ounce of the confidence that (Clarkson) has, I think I would be in a better position than I am today.”
RELATED: First of many: Clarkson and Green inspire a nation
In her seven years of sideline reporting, Hubbarth has had courtside access to countless memorable NBA moments.
One that stands out was her coverage of the NBA bubble in Orlando during the 2020 season. At the height of the pandemic when the global lockdown situation was still extremely unpredictable, Hubbarth was one of the few who witnessed first-hand how the NBA pulled off a shortened season that ended with the Los Angeles Lakers being crowned as champions.
“Hopefully, that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Hubbarth said, “I could always point [out that] I was part of history. Being able to be in the bubble, even though there were times it was hard to be in the bubble, was still an experience that I would never take for granted.”
Another moment that Hubbarth considers unforgettable was her postgame interview with Russell Westbrook in 2017 when he tied Oscar Robertson’s record for most triple-doubles in a season. Westbrook has since broken that record, as well as Robertson’s record for most career triple-doubles in NBA history.
“Russ can be mercurial, if you will, and specifically with the media, but I could tell he wanted to express how proud he was of being able to accomplish this. I felt like I was part of that moment,” Hubbarth said. “I felt like I was contributing to the game in itself … and I was allowing him to really kind of dig into his emotions and feelings about doing something that no one had ever done before.”
Hubbarth’s baptism of fire came in the form of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who is notorious for being tough on reporters, back in 2015. It did not help that the Spurs were trailing the Houston Rockets, but it was Christmas day, and Hubbarth made sure to take advantage of the holidays to warm up to Pop.
Coach Gregg Popovich is famously tough to interview, pero nadaan ni Cassidy sa charm at diskarte (in true Pinoy fashion). Marami pa siyang interesting anecdotes about her life covering the league we love. Hear all about it on the latest episode of #RepublikaHuddle. #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/ReB6cDIzmx
— NBA Philippines (@NBA_Philippines) December 7, 2021
“I just asked him the first question, ‘What did you like after the first quarter?’ and I said it so fast,” she recalled. “He gave me an actual answer, he said pick and roll defense … Then I said, ‘Because it's Christmas coach, I'm not gonna ask you a second question, it's my gift to you. He goes, ‘Thanks’. He did a half-smile and then he walked away. So it worked out in my favor because I had (Christmas Day) to fall back on.”
This coming Christmas, Hubbarth will cover Trae Young’s return to Madison Square Garden. Young famously embraced his villain role when the Atlanta Hawks beat the New York Knicks in the playoffs last year. Until now, Young is still the Garden’s public enemy No. 1.
“When I look back at those highlights – from the bow to the kiss – he is a showman. For a guy who has all that moxie, he may be one of the nicest players in the league to deal with off the court, but he is just a killer on the court,” said Hubbarth. “I underestimated him, he really turned it up 50 notches in the playoffs last year. We all know that they surprised a lot of people with their playoff run last year. He's the real deal and his confidence is only growing.”
Hubbarth is relishing every single LeBron James game that she gets to cover because she knows that after 19 years of greatness, the King’s days on the NBA court are now numbered. But if you ask her who’s the best player in the league right now, it’s a toss-up between Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, with the latter having a slight edge due to the number of “lemon faces” – the look of surprise bordering on disgust – that she makes while watching KD.
“Even though there's no one I have more fun watching right now than Steph Curry, It's just that when I watch Kevin Durant I make more lemon faces than any other player, like what did he just do?” said Hubbarth. “He just doesn’t look like any other player I've seen in my life. His handles at his size, his scoring ability – he's just, to me, he's still the best player in the league. Whereas Steph is, I don't know how to categorize it, but I guess I would still give KD the edge.”
It would not be surprising to hear Hubbarth say “Ay, naku!” when Curry makes a ridiculous game-changing shot or Durant puts on an otherworldly performance. Filipinos all over the world would go crazy if she ever does it on air.
