Throughout the surprise retirement of Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN this summer, many around the media wondered how much new star Pat McAfee played a role in boxing Wojnarowski out — and whether McAfee could tilt the scales toward personal favorite Shams Charania as Wojnarowski’s replacement.
Moments after Charania announced his move to ESPN on Monday, McAfee reacted live on The Pat McAfee Show on YouTube and ESPN+ and confirmed he had indeed been pushing for Charania behind the scenes.
McAfee acknowledged he sent messages to ESPN brass throwing his support behind Charania, who has appeared on PMS for years and was a go-to NBA voice for the show while it was affiliated with FanDuel until late 2023.
“I may or may not have sent that message to a couple people,” McAfee said. “But you know, our show is licensed to ESPN. But it was like, ‘Hey we got this’ … Whatever god, universe you believe in, there is a prince who was promised.”
At the same time, ESPN appeared to explore many options to replace Wojnarowski, including expanding or adjusting the roles of Adam Schefter or Jeff Passan.
McAfee tried to be respectful of Schefter and Passan, who also have long standing relationships with the show, while also remaining adamant that Charania was the right man for the opening.
“All those things were happening and we’re friends with all these people. And it’s like, I don’t want to say, ‘what are we doing, it’s right here?’ But I (took my) hands out, sent a couple (messages),” McAfee said. “Good dude and has always shown up for us, too … absolutely insane work ethic.”
Wojnarowski never appeared on PMS during their year overlapping at ESPN. McAfee repeatedly referred to Charania as the show’s insider, separate from the hierarchy at ESPN. During the height of the reporting clash over the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search over the summer, McAfee even invited Charania on PMS to dispute Wojnarowski’s reporting.
It seems illogical that Wojnarowski would be swayed in his professional future by the gestures from McAfee, but it could have played a role in how ESPN moved forward with replacing him.
Anyone else taking Wojnarowski’s spot as the network’s top ESPN insider would have had to deal with the fact that Charania likely would remain the go-to on PMS. Other ESPN analysts like Brian Windhorst, Kendrick Perkins and Austin Rivers are recurring guests on PMS, but for news, Charania is the guy.
To his credit, McAfee did offer a salute to Wojnarowski amid his praise of Charania.
“Obviously Woj, incredibly commitment to the game and to ESPN and the NBA for a long time … but ESPN won today now that they have Shams a part of the crew,” McAfee said.
Personally, it is widely rumored that Wojnarowski evolved from Charania’s mentor to a rival. The two almost never credited one another after Wojnarowski jumped to ESPN, and incidents like the Lakers’ search often became standoffs between the two.
Now, Charania once again replaces Wojnarowski — this time without the shadow of his predecessor looming.
[The Pat McAfee Show on YouTube]