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Taylor Rooks debuted the second season of her Bleacher Report show "Take It There" on Wednesday. ... [+] Photo courtesy of Bleacher Report

Its rare to land, keep and enjoy your dream job at 27 years of age, but thats exactly what Bleacher Reports Taylor Rooks has accomplished.

The second season of her Bleacher Report video interview series Take It There With Taylor Rooks premiered on Wednesday with an in-depth conversation with Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown. Even when she was an anchor or reporter at SNY or in the studio or on panels at Big Ten Network, there were always tightly controlled segments and time constraints. She doesnt have this issue with B/R.

We have these athletes for hours, she said on a rainy, gloomy Tuesday afternoon in Midtown Manhattan. And you can talk about whatever, and it makes them feel like they wanna talk about whatever.

Rooks is also the shows executive producer, and helps book the shows guest herself through personal relationships with athletes or their management teams. Its a sense of creative control that not many at her age in her position can attain.

I always tell people, I think life moved really quickly for me, Rooks said. I think I had a lot of advantages in terms of the fact that my first job was a national job. That kind of jump-started learning the things I needed to learn.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 19: Taylor Rooks attends the B/Real Premiere Event at Kimpton La Peer ... [+] Hotel on October 19, 2018 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Bleacher Report)

Rooks was born in St. Louis but spent most of her childhood in Georgia, growing up in a household that loved football and basketball. Like her two parents, she enrolled at the University of Illinois, where her dad Thomas was a star running back in the 80s.

Rooks and quickly made a name for herself in Champaign-Urbana. During her freshman year, she started a blog called The Online Sideline that became so popular that Fox Sports took notice and asked her to work for them at Fox and Scout.com until she graduated. That included student broadcasts for the Big Ten Network and the NCAA womens NIT for CBS Sports Network when Rooks was just 19. Admittedly, Rooks thinks she definitely thrived because of the internet age she came up in and the compelling content she created.

I owe a lot of my career to social media, the internet era, Rooks said. And I feel no shame in saying that.

After graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism in 2014, she worked at the Big Ten Network for two years. Rooks appeared on BTN Live, served as a social media correspondent and hosted an interview series called Court Convo. But she wanted a job with a bit more responsibility and a move to New York City. SNY offered her a job to host, report and anchor, take on more responsibility. She moved over in 2016.

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 24: Taylor Rooks attends 2019 NBA Awards at Barker Hangar on June ... [+] 24, 2019 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/WireImage)

That was, for me, the place where I learned what it was to really be a journalist, Rooks, who never had interest in sideline reporting, said. I saw what theyre looking at to produce a show, what makes it, what doesnt, how a newsroom works.

Sometimes Rooks wishes she started at a small local paper where she wouldve had to be a one-man band, where she wouldve had to do and learn everything on the job.

I think I was spoiled a little bit with my first job at the Big Ten Network. It was such a good, easy place, Rooks said. I love Big Ten Network. But I took such a leap learning once I got to SNY.

It was her first real newsroom experience. SNY had a small team attitude, and Rooks stayed up late at times when news broke on air, especially with the Mets.

I was at Citi Field a lot.

What Rooks was best known for at SNY, and where she spread her wings as a precursor to her current B/R position, was with her podcast Timeout With Taylor Rooks. She also produced and booked talent for the show, which was also filmed for the networks YouTube page.

On Timeout, Rooks was able to bring on an impressive array of guests for a regional cable channel, including Dwyane Wade, Meek Mill and, most famously, former New York Knicks forward Michael Beasley.

The two famously argued about how much brainpower humans are really capable of using. The exchange, and the podcast, went viral.

We were arguing over something that wasnt even real, Rooks said. It was a ridiculous moment.

It was also a learning experience for the young host, who became more aware of how online narratives really work. Every viral moment, she realized, lacks all of the context necessary to completely judge a situation.

When that came out, a part of me felt a little bad for him, Rooks said. Because if you watch the whole entire thing, the jokes were about him smoking. If you listen to the whole thing, hes a great human being. You have to be cognizant whenever you do any social media moment, of what the viral thing will feel like to that person.

As an interviewer, your goal is to create something lasting, Rooks said, and thats what she did with Beasley. They even played a clip of it during his Knicks tribute video at Madison Square Garden, though its unclear why there was a tribute video for Beasley in the first place.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 29: Taylor Rooks speaks onstage during the PUMA SS20 Women's Event on ... [+] January 29, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for PUMA)

People in high places began to take notice of Rooks podcasting prowess, especially Dylan MacNamara, Bleacher Reports senior director of talent.

They said this is something that can be sustainable as a show, Rooks said We want to create this show. And we figured out a way to make it work.

She came over in September, 2018 specifically to launch Take It There. Rooks was able to bring on prolific guests in Season One that included Liverpool megastar Mo Salah, Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Saquon Barkley and Jimmy Butler. And they know when they come on her show, she said, theyre going to get questions that they may not like.

Im gonna ask stuff you probably are maybe uncomfortable with but people wanna know, Rooks said. But theyre fine with doing that because they know itll be in a way that isnt coming from a place of judgment. Its coming from a place of understanding. And theyre aware of that. And I think it definitely helps knowing that youre stepping into a space where you can say something you wanna say.

DeMar DeRozan said on Rooks' show that he was the "sacrificial lamb" in Toronto. Photo by Abbie ... [+] Parr/Getty Images

Thats how she was able to book DeMar DeRozan for the Season One finale, where she asked the questions on everyones minds after Kawhi Leonard led the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA title.

I looked at DeMar and said, how come the Raptors won with Kawhi and not you? Because thats what everyone wanted to know, she said. And I think he appreciated me asking that because he wanted to answer it. That led to a very viral moment, with DeMar saying I was the sacrificial lamb.

Their interview for the show was the first time theyd ever had a conversation, and that Rooks has gained a reputation among players as a go-to spot for candid exchanges.

I could tell he wanted to talk, she said. I could tell people were talking about him so much.

The two episodes Rooks is most excited for in Season Two are Chris Paul and Kevin Durant, because viewers will see them in ways they havent experienced before. She and Durant have known each other for eight years now, and first met at the 2012 All-Star weekend in Orlando.

Rooks was a 19-year-old student at Illinois, and wasnt able to get any questions in with the then-Oklahoma City Thunder forward at the media scrum. When she asked him for a couple of minutes of his time afterward, Durant rebuffed his handlers and said yes.

He just wanted to help me, Rooks said. At that time in your career, youre hearing a lot of nos. But if someone says yes, its something you absolutely remember. And just because of that, we have been friends ever since.

Kevin Durant is making progress as he rehabs from a torn Achilles he famously sustained during last ... [+] year's NBA Finals. Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With his burner accounts and Twitter clapbacks, Durant can come off as mean, angry or petty at times. Rooks said their interview shows different sides of the Brooklyn Nets superstar.

Hes smiling, joking, reading his old embarrassing tweets, she said. Theres some really nice, human moments in a way you dont really see KD.

Now in a nice groove at Bleacher Report, Rooks is doing what shes always wanted to do, long unfiltered talks with some of sports biggest names.

Theyve given me this platform that is just unthinkable, she said. What Im doing is what I wanna do, talking to people in a longform setting and really adding to the conversation.

See more here:
Bleacher Reports Taylor Rooks Discusses Take It There Season Two, Friendship With Kevin Durant - Forbes