We haven’t heard much from Adrian Wojnarowski since he departed as ESPN’s top NBA insider, and that’s probably by design.
But after ESPN announced his protégé Shams Charania would become its next basketball newsbreaker, Wojnarowski joined The Jim Rome Show and expressed his support for Charania at the worldwide leader.
“I hope he has as fulfilling and as rewarding of a career as I’ve had,” Wojnarowski said. “I wish him the best, and he’s got a great team around him at ESPN.”
Wojnarowski added that Charania will be well-positioned to succeed at ESPN because of the great hosts, producers, editors, and reporters around him.
Wojnarowski left ESPN in September to become the next general manager of the St. Bonaventure’s men’s basketball program. A replacement search for “Woj” began expeditiously, and the network reportedly considered promoting from within — both on its basketball staff and others like Adam Schefter or Jeff Passan — before ultimately landing on Charania.
In a fortunate stroke of luck, Charania timed his free agency in conjunction with Wojnarowski’s retirement. Though the two were thought to be bitterly opposed after Wojnarowski mentored Charania at Yahoo, it sounds as if they may have made amends recently.
Wojnarowski confirmed he spoke with Charania after announcing his retirement and choosing to address Charania’s hiring at ESPN marks effectively the first time he has referred to his protege since they stopped working together. It’s not as if Charania necessarily needed Wojnarowski’s blessing (Pat McAfee’s is probably more important at this point), but it’s good to hear they are on solid terms as Charania replaces the man who effectively invented the modern insider gig.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.