When you get older like me you tend to root for people more than teams. So it was there Thursday night as the Golden State Warriors too their fourth title since Steve Kerr took the reins and Steph Curry and crew turned up the volume, that I kept looking along the fringes for my two friends, assistant coach Ron Adams and the Warriors head of communications Ray Ridder.
And where were they, where you would expect them, on the fringes doing their jobs, which is where they have spent most of their glorious careers, helping getting stuff done with the big picture while deferring to others under the lights.
From a communications perspective I am always in awe of Ridder, who for decades, starting as an intern under the “Showtime Lakers” with another master storyteller and relationship builder, Josh Rosenfeld, through more Lakers and then L.A. Sparks time under longtime PR lead John Black, and then on to the top role in Golden State before the team became a dynasty, has been the gold standard for team media relations.
Ray has rarely been the center of attention by choice, he has always been the observer, the confidante, the proactive storyteller, who has mastered a media relations craft with the simplest of things…listening, relationship building and attention to detail. As Golden State improved, some probably looked at the Warriors and said “Good luck Ray trying to manage all those egos and entourages,” but he has been able to do it, treating everyone coming into and around the building with respect and a strong sense of professionalism. His relationship not just with the biggest media platforms but with cultivating those on the way up…the Warriors have held media days tied to social influencers and college media over the years, some practices which were curtailed only by the Pandemic and not the level of engagement of a championship caliber team…and making sure that he always treated people just like that…as people there to do a job and enhance the stories of those in and around the organization.
He has not just survived coaching and ownership changes, he has thrived in a business which can become very consuming with the added layer of social media engagement, but he still takes great pride when the hyper local platform or the hometown outlet tells a story that maybe larger, click driven outlets might have missed. His scope is wide, but he rarely if ever misses the opportunity, and he has set a standard in an era where many PR types are viewed as protectors, gatekeepers and those who say “no” first, in finding a way to get first, second and third choices done.
For any organization that is not easy, but Ray Ridder finds a way at the highest of levels.
So there on Thursday night he was again, asked up, vest on, white sneakers shining, as Golden State ascended the winners platform. Ray I could see off on the side taking notes, making sure that the key shots got done, and was probably already planning ahead to the parade and what will be next…there is a Draft next week after all.
Now there are more than a few people who last on the senior communications teams with an organization because of their knowledge and thy morph into other jobs. The difference, as he said to me at a breakfast a year before The Pandemic, is Ray Ridder is still a curious learner, he understands not just the media veterans but the new faces and what their value is to an organization, and like the team he works with, he seems to keep thriving not just surviving. How long before Ray rides off with his now four Warriors rings into the sunset? Who knows?
But it was great to see him again doing his thing Thursday night, helping facilitate the messages and the memories of another great tale for Golden State. A championship communications professional matched with a championship organization.
Well done again Double R. We root for people, and he has always been one to root for.
