For Jared Weiss, it started as a hobby. Now, he’s living out a dream.

Jared Weiss was a political science student at Boston University who got in the habit of regularly commenting on CelticsBlog posts.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he found himself covering the team with media credentials, attending press conferences, and learning everything he could about the game of basketball.

That’s because in college, he happened to stumble upon an intriguing job posting for a part-time role at a media entity called North Station Sports. That company turned into CLNS Media, and Weiss — alongside co-founder Nick Gelso — began producing a post-game show, The Garden Report, recorded at TD Garden after each home game.

CelticsBlog agreed to host the show, and so, after graduating from college, Jared also began covering the team for the site.

“I was learning the game. I was studying everything I could,” Weiss said. “I was talking to coaches, players, trying to learn everything I could at a high level.”

At first, Weiss, who grew up a Celtics fan, was pinching himself at the opportunity to spend time at the Garden and cover the team he had loved for so long. But, he quickly pivoted from fan to reporter after his first interaction with Kevin Garnett helped him realize a clear distinction between the players and the media.

“He was so scary to me,” he said. “He was so intimidating.”

Besides, Weiss always felt he watched basketball through a uniquely unbiased perspective, despite growing up in Newton, Mass. and regularly attending Celtics games.

Upon beginning his tenure with CelticsBlog, Weiss wanted to hone his journalism skills, so he took a seminar course with Paul Flannery, a professor who covered the NBA for SB Nation. At CelticsBlog, Weiss had the opportunity to cover the team however he saw fit – a flexibility that CelticsBlog maintains today in order to ensure each reporter can lean into their strengths.

“CelticsBlog, and [founder] Jeff Clark, gave me a blank check,” Weiss said. “They were like, ‘if you have a good idea, write it.’ And I did that. And at a certain point, it wasn’t garbage.”

The opportunity to dive deep into topics he was drawn to allowed Weiss to hone his craft and create work he was proud of.

“It’s one of the best incubators for talent in the industry,” Weiss said. “There’s a lot of really good people that have either come out of there or have even stopped there.”

At the same time, between 9 and 5 every weekday, Weiss worked for the government. Then, in the evenings, he would switch gears and head over to TD Garden to cover the Celtics.

“I was in my twenties, and I had endless energy,” Weiss said. “And I was like, this is the one time in my life where I know I can work literally every day, and every single night, and somehow, get through it.”

Eventually, he realized his dream of covering the Celtics full-time, and opted to leave his full-time position at the Massachusetts Division of Banks in order to pursue a writing career.

“It was a very good job – really good people, serving a good mission,” Weiss said. “And unfortunately, I was just not creatively stimulated by it at all. And I felt like I was miserable. Because it just didn’t fit with who I was as a person, even though it’s a good job and I was very grateful for that job. And I felt like I did a lot of good work there, and we did a lot of good work there, but I wasn’t operating in a space that fed into my intellectual desires.”

So, after years writing for CelticsBlog, and after stints with WEEI and USA Today, Weiss became a full-time writer with The Athletic in 2019, a pivot away from video coverage and toward longer-form writing. The site was purchased by the New York Times in 2022, and today serves as one of the premier sites for sports media coverage.

“At a certain point, I started to realize that writing allows you to build a very deliberate body of work,” Weiss said. “Writing allows you to create a very digestible, clear body of work that you can shape to be exactly how you wanted.”

Earlier this month, Weiss’ story about how Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola influences Joe Mazzulla was in the print version of the New York Times.

“Part of me was like, ‘this is insane and completely surreal,’” Weiss said. “Part of me was also like, ‘Good. I was trying to make sure that this story was good enough to be in the paper. Check off that box.’”

Over the last decade, Weiss has become known for his in-depth features and unique storytelling. Most recently, his 2022 piece on Marcus Smart’s support for cancer patients was awarded an honorable mention for magazine length features by the Professional Basketball Writers Association.

“Once you start achieving your dreams, they’re no longer your dreams, they’re your reality,” Weiss said. “So, you have to keep finding a new dream to chase. I’m just the kind of person who — I’m always chasing the next level, I’m never going to be satisfied with wherever I am in life.”

“I’m fortunate,” Weiss said. “I think I’m with the best company to cover sports with. I’m very proud of the work that I’ve done, that we’ve done.”

As he reflects on his career, he’s well-aware that his goal of covering an NBA team full-time was a lofty one, considering the limited opportunities and competitive nature of the field. But, he has no regrets on how it’s all played out.

“You are foolishly ambitious if you’re trying to break into this industry,” Weiss said. “But, foolishly ambitious people do incredible things all the time.”