NBA fans’ jaws dropped when Adrian Wojnarowski announced his retirement from ESPN and the sports media space yesterday, as the long-time NBA insider will become the general manager for the men’s basketball program at St. Bonaventure.
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Adrian Wojnarowski had nearly three years remaining on his contract with an annual salary of around $7 million, so he is essentially walking away from more than $20 million with ESPN, according to The Athletic, which is a lot of money.
After Woj’s announcement, NFL insider Adam Schefter shared his heartfelt support for his long-time colleague and explained why the 55-year-old probably decided to leave his “dream job.”
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“We talked about this, and basically he (Wojnarowski) wanted his life back,” Schefter explained on NBA on ESPN. “He didn’t want to have to work on holidays, he didn’t want to be away from more family gatherings. He didn’t want to, as we had to do in the past, take a shower with your phone up against the shower door so you could see a text was coming in, or take your phone with you to the urinal and hold it in one hand while you tried to take care of your business in the other. That’s the life that we live. That was the life that he chose not to do any longer.”
Who will replace Woj as ESPN’s top NBA insider?
As Woj seeks a better work-life balance while giving back to his alma mater, ESPN will face the difficult task of finding a suitable replacement. According to reports, the sports media giant has Shams Charania and Chris Haynes as the top candidates to take Woj’s place.
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Shams Charania and Chris Haynes are about to hit the open market because their contracts with The Athletic and TNT are expiring this year, per The New York Post’s Ryan Glassspiegel.
ESPN has around one month to make the hire before the 2024-25 NBA season starts on October 22nd.
