StephanA product of two cities — Los Angeles and Atlanta — Stephan Philyaw now resides in Las Vegas. Fortunately, every city has been a major sports town. Mostly an LA sports fan supporting UCLA basketball, USC football, the Dodgers, and the Raiders (which would explain why his interest in pro football has not been very strong most of his life). Recently, as his understanding and appreciation for both hockey and soccer has grown, he’s gained an increased appreciation for the Kings and the Galaxy. Although, regarding the Kings, he treads lightly, as die hard Kings fans are not known to treat bandwagoners too kindly. Above all, Stephan treasures the Los Angeles Lakers more than any other team.

Stephan’s passion for the Lakers is so intense he hates all things Boston and, in fact, all other NBA teams. (They don’t like the Lakers; Lakers fans don’t like them.) And even though he’s loyal to LA sports, you won’t find him giving any love to the Clippers.

Stephan is more than your run of the mill sports fan. His love of sports stems from his family lineage. Stephan’s father, Luther, played basketball for Loyola Marymount University and resides in the LMU Hall of Fame. Stephan’s cousin, Charles, is an ex-Raider while his other cousin, Dino, played college ball for the Oregon Ducks and the pro level for the New England Patriots. Stephan’s athletic background is in baseball and basketball up to his college years. Even though he had more passion for basketball, he was clearly more successful in baseball. Stephan was scouted by multiple pro teams (Braves, D-Backs, and Rockies) and even tried out for the Cincinnati Reds at age 17. His baseball talents drew interests from Pepperdine University, California State University Hayward (now called California State University East Bay), and Georgia Institute of Technology. Ultimately, Stephan decided to attend Loyola Marymount University, where he walked on for baseball and basketball. Unfortunately his athletic career was derailed due to injury. At LMU, he passed on playing baseball in order to focus on basketball, but ultimately tore his ACL during freshman and junior years.

Outside of his collegiate athletic career Stephan was interested in arts and entertainment and eventually graduated from LMU with a degree in multimedia. He combines his passion for competition and sports with the world of multimedia and entertainment.

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