Brian Windhorst’s time at ESPN might be winding down, or not. That’s still to be determined.
According to Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel, both Windhorst and Malika Andrews are in the final year of their current contracts, with deals set to expire after the 2024-25 NBA season. And while ESPN reportedly hopes to keep both around, Windhorst told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch on a recent episode of Sports Media with Richard Deitsch that no negotiations are currently taking place.
“I’ve been at ESPN 15 years. The company has been wonderful to me,” said Windhorst. “And I would love to continue at ESPN. There’s no negotiations, so I can very simply say to you: there’s no negotiations. I would love to stay on if that works. If it doesn’t work, I’m 47, not 64. My career will continue, I hope. But I appreciate the people that do write about it and care, because it does show a different thing. I’ve covered the NBA for 23 years. I want to cover the NBA.”
That said, Windhorst isn’t sweating it.
“I’m happy to say I’m not worried about it,” he said of his contract status. “I’m happy to say that I was 100 percent focused on this NBA playoff run and then free agency and all that stuff. It makes it easy not to worry about it. I’m also happy to say that I’ve been at ESPN 15 years — I’ve done a number of contracts, I don’t know how many — and I’ve never had a stressful situation.”
And that’s because ESPN deals tend to align with the start of the NBA season, and July, as Windhorst pointed out, is when half the company’s decision-makers are on vacation.
“It’s not unusual for this business to be taken care of later,” he said.
Until then, he’s just going to keep showing up and doing the work.
Since joining ESPN in 2010 to cover the Miami Heat’s Big Three as part of the infamous “Heat Index,” Windhorst has evolved into one of the network’s most recognizable NBA voices. The former Cleveland Cavaliers beat writer now appears regularly on NBA Today, NBA Countdown, and First Take, where his delivery, analysis, and occasional exasperation have become a genre unto themselves.
Whether or not Windhorst remains at ESPN, he’s not going anywhere when it comes to covering the NBA. He’s been doing it longer than most, and with a new media rights era on the horizon — and Amazon and NBC both on the hunt for talent — there will be no shortage of suitors if ESPN lets him walk.
And while his contract might still be up in the air, Windhorst isn’t. He’s been doing this too long — and doing it too well — to be anything other than a fixture, whether that’s at ESPN or somewhere else. Right now, all signs point to that continuing at ESPN, but in this business, you never really know.