Please give a warm welcome to Serena Winters, NBC Sports Philadelphia's new multiplatform Sixers reporter. Serena will join Marc Zumoff and Alaa Abdelnaby on all Sixers telecasts, and she will cover the team across all of NBC Sports Philadelphia's digital platforms. You can follow her on Twitter @SerenaWinters, and you can hear from her in her own words below!

***

When I was in high school, my mom and I were in the car talking about colleges, and my mom asked the typical question: "Have you thought about what you want to do with your career, honey?"

At the time, I was a three-sport athlete, playing basketball, golf and track and field. Basketball was always my first love. I remember being the only girl on a boys team at the Boys & Girls Club in my elementary school days and thinking, "I’m going to be the first woman in the NBA!"

Fast forward to that car ride with my mom, and I knew deep down I wasn’t going to make it as a professional athlete. I loved basketball, but I wasn’t getting recognized by any D-1 schools. I loved golf, but I knew my bogey talents were more suited for Sundays with friends. And despite being pretty darn speedy on those 200M curves, I’m pretty sure I peaked as a freshman.

So there we sat. I was coming back from a Model United Nations conference (similar to a debate team), and I was getting pretty good at the whole public speaking thing. I loved it actually.

And my mom said, "Well, have you thought about sports broadcasting?"

Have you ever had that *light bulb just went on* in your head moment? I’ve only had one, and that was it for me.

I attended UC Santa Barbara, volunteering for the sports radio station before I even took my first class, and interning for the Lakers by my senior year. After graduation, it was a mix of valeting cars to pay the bills and a lot of working for free (I really put that college degree to use right off the bat).

Then came Lakers Nation, and a few years later I joined the Lakers' TV network as a reporter. Earlier this year, I left the Lakers to join the NBC Sports family at NBC Sports Northwest, hosting my own show. From covering the Trail Blazers to riding in IndyCars, it’s an experience I will never forget.

This summer, NBC Sports Philadelphia came calling, and the opportunity to be back working in the sport I grew up loving, with a team that I’ve watched and admired over the past several years, was something I couldn’t help but smile about. I visited the Philadelphia 76ers headquarters. I met with Brett Brown, and I stood out on the second floor overlooking the practice gym. It was then that I got that gut feeling that you always hope for when making a big decision. That gut feeling said this is where I’m supposed to be, working for all of you, the fans, and bringing you the very best coverage of your favorite basketball team, in the best damn sports city in the world.

All I ask of you is to give me the chance to make you proud to say that you have the best coverage of any NBA team in the Association. This is your team, and I want to cover your team in the best possible way. I can’t wait to get to work, and if you see me around, please say hi!