Her father brought her to basketball. Now, she will bring basketball into our living rooms.
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Wednesday, Katy Winge received a promotion, becoming Altitude’s lead analyst on the Nuggets broadcasts. She becomes only the third woman in the NBA in this role.
Winge never set out to be a pioneer, but as she advanced from studio host to sideline reporter to calling a few games, she allowed herself to dream.
She just figured the opportunity would come with another organization. Chris Marlowe and Scott Hastings provided the soundtrack for Nuggets Nation for a quarter century. They were institutions.
However, when the team decided it was time for a reboot, Winge had options available that she had never considered.
“I was so grateful for the opportunity. But I wanted to think about it and respect those who had given so much to the organization, three people (Marlowe, Hastings and reporter Chris Dempsey) I care about deeply. It was bittersweet. I felt guilty,” Winge told The Post. “I took some time.”
The idea of calling games was a pinch-me moment. A decision like this — life-changing in every way — demanded calling her father, Peter. But he passed away unexpectedly last November.
Basketball bonded the Winge family — dad, mother Cathy, and brother Chris. If they were not watching games, they were watching Katy play games. She starred at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota and navigated a bumpy but successful college career at Illinois State.
Winge found confidence through hoops. And her broadcasting chops through endless conversations with her father.
“They say grief is love with no place to go. My dad was my guy. He was the one who introduced me to the sport. We would talk after every game, about the team, about what I brought to the broadcast,” Winge said, her speech halting at the memories. “He was my biggest cheerleader. He believed in me before I believed in myself.”
Thinking back on those conversations, Winge knew what her dad would have said about the Nuggets’ offer. She had to take the job. If not for the love of the game, then for the love of her father.
While the circumstances were not ideal, Winge was ready. She had earned this seat.
“She’s bold and unafraid. And those are two skills and talents that are hard to acquire in this business,” said Altitude colleague Vic Lombardi. “A lot of people in TV come across as arrogant, but most people, deep down, are insecure. She has always been comfortable with who she is. I noticed that from the get-go.”
When Kevin Demoff, Altitude’s president of team and media operations, went through the interview process, Winge’s name remained top of mind. She had grown as a broadcaster over several years, connected with Nuggets Nation and exhibited a sharp understanding of the game.
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The last point became a touchstone in many conversations about her candidacy.
“She was the leader in the clubhouse, and the thing that jumped out was the outpouring of support from the coaches, the front office and fans,” Demoff said. “It is funny, we hear all the time the term elite ball knower. Well, Katie is an elite ball knower. The most impactful feedback we got was from the locker room, how much they valued talking to her and her sharing her knowledge.”
Winge will be paired with new play-by-play man Noah Reed. They are dramatically different from Marlowe and Hastings in age and experience.
The challenge of winning over viewers will be difficult. Sports viewers are notoriously unforgiving and impatient.
For Winge, she has been in this role before, but it is totally different when parachuting in for a few assignments sprinkled across seven months. In those spots, you are the substitute teacher trying not to mess things up.
Her new title provides room for her personality — already seen in interviews and on social media — to shine through.
“There is a chemistry and rhythm you develop in that seat. When I would do a couple of games here and there, I always felt like my best game was my last game. I am very well aware it is going to take some time,” Winge said. “I believe it will happen and that my love of the game will help others fall in love with it as well.”
Working in Winge’s favor are things no longer common among broadcasters: hard work and humility. There was no elevator to this role. Winge worked as a sports anchor in Rochester, Minn., long enough to become disenchanted with local news. She returned to school, earning her masters from Northwestern and found her footing “when working for a team.”
Playing the game at a high level — Winge averaged 11.3 points per game on 33.1% shooting from behind the arc as a senior at Illinois State — is one thing. Describing and explaining it in short bursts is another.
Winge has shown that ability.
“She has an incredible combination of basketball knowledge, playing experience, preparation and authenticity,” said Oakland Athletics play-by-play announcer Jenny Cavnar, a fellow trailblazer. “I am thrilled that Denver gets a front-row seat to the next chapter in her career.”
Winge recognizes that being on the call in front of the camera will put her under the microscope. Ask those who know her, and they believe she has the right temperament to handle it, with Demoff saying, “She is already someone girls and women watch and look up to.”
Winge’s father was her inspiration, her coach. Truth is, even dreams come with doubts. And while Winge is driven to do this job well, to make the broadcasts smart and fun, she wishes she could have thanked her father in person.
But as she finds her voice, his will still be inside her head, forever preserved through messages.
“I can hear him saying,” Winge said, “’Hey kiddo, you’ve got this!’”
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