He is best known for writing about social issues in sports, including his outspoken advocacy against Native American mascots, especially the Washington Redskins, his basketball coverage, his portraits of athletes and their psychological pasts, and his personal revelation of childhood sexual abuse in relation to the Penn State scandal.

[2] At the Post, the Times and ESPN, he has covered the NBA Finals, World Series, multiple Super Bowls, an America's Cup in New Zealand and seven Olympic Games.

His national television appearances include CNN, MSNBC, PBS NewsHour, SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, The Today Show and Good Morning America.

Wise won the 2006 Associated Press Sports Writers first-place Feature Story Award[4] for a portrait of NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas and the mother who abandoned him.

[8] He is the son of Roger Wise, who covered the nation's first heart transplant for the San Jose Mercury News, later became an editor for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and an Episcopal priest before his death in 2013.