Bonnie-Jill Laflin

Bonnie-Jill Laflin (born March 15, 1976) is an American model, television personality and sportscaster. Laflin has also worked as an actress and most notably as a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers, making her the league's first female scout.[1] She was also assistant general manager of the Lakers NBA Development League team.[1]

Bonnie-Jill Laflin
Bonnie-Jill Laflin in 2015
Born (1976-03-15) March 15, 1976
San Francisco, California
OccupationActress, model, TV personality, Radio Personality
Years active1996–present
Known forBasketball Wives, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, KNBR Sports Radio, Fox Sports, ESPN
Websitehttp://www.bonnie-jill.com/

Biography

Laflin grew up in San Francisco, California, the daughter of a law enforcement officer and began modeling as a child with her mother. She started dancing at age 2 and studied with the San Francisco Ballet.[2][3] She first gained public attention as a cheerleader with the Golden State Warriors[4] of the NBA and is a former San Francisco 49ers[5] and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader [6] in the National Football League, earning a Superbowl ring with the 49ers[2][6]

Laflin's work as a cheerleader and model helped her into television with recurring roles on Baywatch in the 1998–1999 season and Ally McBeal in 2000. She then became a TV personality, hosting Spike TV's Hotlines and ESPN's United Rockcrawling & Off-Road Challenge Series.[7][8] Laflin was also a correspondent for Prime 9 News with KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, California, (2003), and a correspondent for ESPN's Cold Pizza. Her accolades in the sports industry also include broadcasting jobs for CBS, Fox, BBC[9] and NFL Network. She is the creator and host of a basketball TV show for China, Muho TV (spoken in English with Chinese subtitles).[10]

Laflin conducting an interview

Laflin played Dierks Bentley's love interest in CMT's 2005 Sexiest Video of the Year, "Come a Little Closer". In 2005, she appeared as one of the suitcase-holding models during the airing of the opening week of Deal or No Deal on NBC. Laflin was ranked #89 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2005.[11] She has also worked as a model for Frederick's of Hollywood and Venus Swimwear, and her print campaigns include Coors Light, Bacardi, Wrangler, FedEx, McDonald's Doritos, Carl's Jr and Nike And currently an ambassador and host for Air Jordan,[12][13] Laflin has been featured in several magazines including FHM, Maxim, GQ, Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, Women's Health,[14] Fitness RX, Origin and New Beauty. She was named among the Top Hooters Girls as part of the restaurant chain's 25th anniversary in 2008.[15] Laflin was a cast member on season 6 of VH1's Basketball Wives.

Laflin has worked with the Los Angeles Lakers as a professional basketball scout,[16] making her the league's first female scout,[1] and as one of the two assistant general managers of the Lakers' developmental team, the Los Angeles D-Fenders.[17] She received 5 NBA Championship rings during her time with the Lakers.[18][19] On March 7, 2012, she announced that she and Kareem Rush would pair up in a fantasy basketball sports radio program on SiriusXM named The Rush Hour. The show launched on October 23, 2012;[20] the show was renewed for 2013. In 2013, she appeared as an in-studio guest on KNBR's Damon Bruce Show, once to discuss the San Francisco 49ers' run to Super Bowl XLVII,[21] and another time to discuss Bay Area sports in general.[22] She also appeared on the show, now on KGMZ, in October 2014 at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium to discuss the San Francisco Giants' 2014 World Series run.[23] Laflin's other radio shows include Playboy Fantasy Football on Sirius/XM and University of Texas pre- and post-football game shows for ESPN Austin. Laflin has appeared on the ABC game show To Tell The Truth[24] "and was a guest on Larry King Now [25]

Laflin currently hosts "Bonnie-Jill Laflin's The Weekly Pass" on Afterbuzz TV, the first ever sports show on the network.[26] Since September 2018 she is now a regular host on KNBR's Murph and Mac show.[27] As of March 2019 she is concurrently also a television on air host and reporter[28] for NBC Sports Bay Area.

Charity work
Laflin with professional football players during a visit to FOB Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq, in 2006

In 2010, Laflin founded the charity Hounds and Heroes, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for military veterans, first responders and animals.[29] She has traveled all over the world on 18 United Service Organizations and Goodwill Tours, including 8 to Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the United States Armed Forces.

Laflin is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She is a vegan and has posed for various PETA's campaigns.[30]

Clothing line

Laflin has a clothing line, DoublePlay Sportswear, a women's sports apparel company.[31]

Personal life

Laflin has rescued many domestic and farm animals that live on her parents ranch.

She is a competitive barrel racer.[32]

References
  1. Hoppes, Lynn (June 24, 2010). "Commentary: Bonnie-Jill Laflin: cheerleader to scout". ESPN. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2015. ... the first female scout in the NBA and she is also the assistant general manager for the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers' developmental team.
  2. "10 Things You Didn't Know about Bonnie-Jill Laflin".
  3. Matson, Barbara (June 9, 2008). "Not easy to size up Laflin". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  4. "Bonnie-Jill Laflin: cheerleader to scout «". ultimatecheerleaders.com. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  5. "Ex-cheerleader Bonnie-Jill Laflin reminisces about 49ers - Page 2 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  6. "bonnie-jill laflin | Weekly Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Blog". Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  7. "Bonnie-Jill Laflin IMDB".
  8. Kelly, Seth (August 16, 2004). "Sporty New Model". Stuff Magazine. Archived from the original on December 15, 2006.
  9. "Breaking Basketball's Barriers".
  10. Muho TV YouTube
  11. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20050510005399/en/MAXIM-MAGAZINE-Unveils-Hot-100-2005-Eva#.VJsrX8916IA
  12. "Bonnie-Jill Laflin Twitter".
  13. "Air Jordan".
  14. "What It Was Like to Be the First (and Only!) Female Scout in the NBA".
  15. "The Top Hooters Girls of all time." Hooters Magazine. July/August 2008. p. 107.
  16. Kinsey, Joe (July 6, 2010). "Lakers Scout, Former NFL Cheerleader Bonnie Jill Laflin has 5 More Championship Rings than Lebron James!". Retrieved December 24, 2012.
  17. "Model-turned-NBA scout breaks into man's world". CNN. March 19, 2007. Archived from the original on October 29, 2012.
  18. "FIRST AND ONLY FEMALE NBA SCOUT BONNIE-JILL LAFLIN LAUNCHES "THE WEEKLY PASS" ON WESTWOOD ONE PODCAST NETWORK".
  19. "KNBR's Bonnie-Jill Laflin Q&A: I can 'hang with the big boys'".
  20. "Former NBA Player and Analyst for NBA TV, Steve Smith Joined Former NBA Player, Kareem Rush and Bonnie-Jill Laflin on the Debut of the Rush Hour on SXM Fantasy Sports Radio". October 23, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  21. Bonnie-Jill Laflin [@BJLaflin] (January 25, 2013). "Excited to be working Super Bowl Radio Row as @DamonBruce sidekick for his show on @KNBR Make sure to listen :) #GoNiners" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. http://instagram.com/p/gG3dn4oVbE/
  23. 15:15 mark at http://media.957thegame.com/a/98661087/the-damon-bruce-show-10-29-14-hour-1.htm Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
  24. "To Tell the Truth: Episode 210 - Watch Season 2 Episode 10". ABC. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  25. "Get to know the NBA's first female scout Bonnie-Jill Laflin".
  26. "Afterbuzz TV Moves Into Sports Discussion Launching Bonnie-Jill Laflin's The Weekly Pass Show". March 6, 2018.
  27. Staff, KNBR (September 6, 2018). "Get to know Bonnie-Jill Laflin, newest member of the Murph & Mac show". KNBR-AM. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  28. "Bonnie-Jill Laflin joins NBCS Bay Area Team".
  29. "Hounds and Heroes". Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  30. "Bonnie-Jill Laflin Empowers and Inspires With Her Vegan Message". PETA. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  31. "DoublePlay Sportswear Launch". Indiegogo. July 2, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  32. "CIS Cover Girl, Bonnie-Jill Laflin A Cowgirl Who Has Done It All".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.