Shams received her high school education at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, located about 30 miles north of the United Center.
Charania’s English teacher sowed the first seeds of encouragement
When Charania was in tenth grade, he was taking an English class when he received advice that would change the course of his life. His English teacher praised him as an outstanding writer and encouraged him to try writing, suggesting he give it a shot.
Charania was always the student who excelled more in the English class or in the writing tasks than in the math classes he took.
Before the advent of Twitter, he was always preoccupied with the latest developments in the sports world. He always tried to acquire knowledge before anyone else. Shams vividly remembers a day in eighth grade when he sat in science class and spent the entire period just checking HoopsHype and RealGM over and over.
Young Charania started writing for The New Trier News, his school newspaper
Two years later, Charania decided to give his school newspaper, the New Trier News, a try to work on it during his freshman year and see where it would take him.
As he rose through the ranks to become one of the newspaper’s sports department editors, he also wanted to try his hand at writing about the NBA, which was his true passion.
He started a Bulls blog on ChicagoNow
Because of this, he decided to start a Bulls blog on ChicagoNow, a local website owned by the Chicago Tribune. On the blog, he wrote new articles every day and provided a free recap of the game to compile a body of work.
Charania said he gained experience early in his professional career and believes this to be true. Unlike the others, preoccupied with the party, he gives his full attention to his work.
He started submitting to every major publication he read
As Charania’s junior year progressed, he began submitting his work to websites such as RealGM, HoopsWorld, and HoopsHype. These websites were among the publications responsible for so many basketball-obsessed teenagers using the F5 keys on their personal computers in the late 2000s and the turn of the decade.
He tried to contact all the many periodicals he read often. On the other hand, he was not the only one to act like this.
Chris Reina, who is both executive director and chief marketing officer of RealGM, said the company receives important questions from those interested in writing and reporting. They should choose potential journalists worth working with from that pool of candidates.
As a young student, Shams always tried to network
When Charania was a high school student, one of the things that set him apart from other students was his tenacious ability to network and try to source. He made unsolicited phone calls to numerous European and NBA team managers and agents seeking information.
Shams can recall the first reactions he received from others in the industry. When that happened, it was like a thrill for the younger version of Shams. Because he had never attempted these things before, he was afraid of making mistakes in what he said or did.
Part of him couldn’t help wondering why people bothered to communicate with a kid like him. Looking back on it now, he realizes that there are a lot of amazing people working in the field, and if you approach things courteously and appropriately, they’ll be happy to help.
Charania started submitting parts to RealGM
Therefore, Charania began cultivating sources and submitting articles to Reina at RealGM even though he was an editor at the New Trier News, writing for ChicagoNow and focusing on his 11th and 12th grade academics.
During the 2011–12 season, guards Mike James and John Lucas III spent time with the Bulls. Meanwhile, Charania attempted to contact players’ agents to inquire about 10-day contracts and non-guaranteed deals.
He did this in the hopes that one day he would be able to branch out from features and columns and crack those kinds of stories on his own.
Reina said he was never obligated to help Charania develop relationships and that Charania’s intrinsic motivation was there from the start.
