KNBR and morning-show personality Bonnie-Jill Laflin have parted ways, ending what turned out to be short stay at the sports-talk station.
A station source confirmed on Thursday that Laflin was no longer employed by the Cumulus-owned station.
Born in San Francisco and raised in Concord and Clayton, Laflin joined KNBR in September of 2018, adding a female voice to the all-male cast of KNBR’s “Murph & Mac” show (Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey). Last year, she launched a new podcast on Westwood One — “The Weekly Pass” — featuring interviews with sports superstars.
During her time at KNBR, she also had a brief on-screen television gig with NBC Sports Bay Area.
The reason for Laflin’s departure was not immediately clear, but her contract was apparently up in September and radio stations — like many media outlets — have been in a cost-cutting mode during tough economic times. Those specializing in sports have had it especially rough during a COVID-19 pandemic in which the games were put on hold. Earlier this year, KCBS let go of longtime sports anchors/reporters Joe Salvatore and Bruce Macgowan.
It was apparent, also, that during her run at KNBR, Laflin struggled to gain traction on the station’s overcrowded morning show, which featured additional contributions from Adam Copeland.
Laflin, 44, has had an incredibly wide variety of gigs in sports and entertainment, including modeling, acting (“Baywatch,” “Ally McBeal”), professional cheerleading (for the Warriors, 49ers and Dallas Cowboys), reality TV (“Basketball Wives”), broadcasting (Fox Sports, ESPN) and much more. But perhaps her biggest claim to fame is being the first female scout in the NBA — a position she held as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers organization.
In an interview last year with the Bay Area News Group, Laflin spoke of the difficulty of being a woman in a male-dominated sports media scene.
“It’s kind of sad that, even in 2019, women are still being asked to prove themselves, even though so many of us have shown that we can hang with the big boys,” she said. “And even when a woman is doing a really great job, you still hear things like: ‘Oh, she’s really good — for a female.'”
