Rumors

Ethan Strauss: What’s interesting is (Woj) called me after I was fired, and everybody was talking about, ‘This is why it happened.’ My CAA agent was telling me that I was in trouble because of it. And he sounded nervous. He was just hemming and hawing, and he was telling me that he didn't get me fired. And I have to say — it was in a way I didn’t believe. But it was just interesting to me that somebody would maybe hate me enough to get me fired — but they wouldn’t want me to know that. And they wouldn’t want other people to know that. And that would be a big deal to them."

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Ethan Strauss: “There’s been a lot said on one side. We’re getting a lot of play-by-play detail from the Spurs’ side. We haven’t heard anything — not from Kawhi, not from Uncle Dennis, nobody. They’ve respected the in-house, keep-the-laundry-in-house edict. The Spurs haven’t. And so, regardless of wherever people land on this, let’s just understand one thing: San Antonio is the one that’s acting out of character, in terms of how they usually keep their business internal. Right? So, I really took the Spurs to task.” “Adrian calls Kevin Wildes — yes, that same Kevin Wildes who, at the time, was the executive producer of The Jump. Kevin brings me in. I sit down with him. He says, ‘Adrian’s saying that you’re ripping on his reporting.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Yeah, he’s very agitated.’ And I said, ‘Look, Kevin, here’s the deal: I didn’t say anything about the reporting. The reporting is valid. I’m saying that the San Antonio Spurs are leaking in a way that they’ve never leaked before. And it’s not fair to make this into “people have said.” I’m not criticizing his reporting. I’m criticizing his source — the truth of the reporting, which is how his source is behaving.’”

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In an appearance on the Marchand Sports Media podcast this week, Wojnarowski insisted he spent no more than “7 or 8 seconds” discussing current ESPN talent when he was hired to lead the NBA reporting team in 2017. However, Wojnarowski conspicuously refused to state Stein’s name in his response. “I remember with ESPN and my conversations before I came, maybe about 7 or 8 seconds about the current staff,” Wojnarowski said. “(Former ESPN EVP John Kosner) asked me what my relationship was with who you mentioned was the NBA insider at ESPN at the time. I said I don’t have a relationship with him; we’ve been competitors, but I’m sure we would get along great working together. And he said, ‘OK.’ That was it. That was the only conversation we ever had, and they made decisions.”

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Any argument that he was waving a wand that decided the futures of ESPN’s existing NBA staff is “not based in fact,” Wojnarowski said. “I knew what the truth was, people at ESPN knew what the truth was,” he added. “There’s going to be people trying to piece together and reach and make it something that it was not. But I can’t control that.”

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Woj: "Working at ESPN is like playing for the Yankees. Nobody roots for you...you're going to get criticism there. That's what you signed up for"

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In September, Wojnarowski stunned the sports world when he announced his departure from ESPN and pivoted to college athletics. “I love my new job. Helping players grow as athletes and as people is incredibly rewarding,” he said. “St. Bonaventure changed my life. I was the first in my family to attend college, and this place gave me a foundation. Now, my job is to give back—whether it’s to our students, alumni, or community.” Though he remains connected with former colleagues in media, he says he has no regrets: “That chapter is closed. I loved working at ESPN, but this new role excites me in a completely different way.”

BasketNews

Brian Windhorst tried to make sense of that dynamic during a first look at his interview on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast. “There’s a couple of reasons. One, because Shams is basically the person of record — and Woj before him,” Windhorst said. “So, when Woj is in the same boat, so just assume when I say Shams, I also am talking about Woj, because they’re [interchangeable]. Their track record is spectacular. So when they say something, it is taken as record. They’re essentially the Clearinghouse of information. And also, it’s incredibly reliable that everybody in the world that need to know will know. “And in the case of contracts, it behooves the agents and the team sometimes to get it on the record, because it’s not finalized. And Shams and Adrian again — assume that I’m saying both – but Shams works extraordinarily hard. And so, when a transaction happens, he may be the first call, but he didn’t fall backwards into being the first call. He worked to get himself there. So, I can say in the year that I’ve worked with him, in fact, it’s been less than year — it’s been like nine months — I’ve called him or texted him with news tips dozens of times, and maybe twice he didn’t already know, or was somewhat was aware.”

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Giannis Antetokounmpo: Does anyone else miss Woj?!

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Nicolas Batum: I always say that Ty Lue saved my career. He did. Like, when I got waived—when Woj announced on Twitter—and I found out that way. Interviewer: Did you really? There was no heads-up? It was just— Nicolas Batum: I was in France, and that’s a true story. I was in France—so time difference—I was cleaning my living room and my son’s toys before putting him to bed, and my phone popped off. “V. Nick Batum got waived.” That’s how I found out. Interviewer: You’re like, “Nice business.” Nicolas Batum: Thank you. So now it’s funny, because I’m like, “Okay, I’m going to retire.” I pretty much thought I was done. I was like, who’s going to want me though, from that, at that time? And my phone started ringing—and yes, of course, the team that got the most interested in me was the Clippers. I got like everybody on the phone: Kawhi, PG, Ty Lue, Lawrence [Frank], Frank, Steve Ballmer—everybody. So I was like, “Why not?” Because I think our stories matched at that time: the bubble stuff, my season. So I was like, maybe get together.

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Here’s the catch: Bryant is likely reporting the full extent of the contracts. When Flagg signed with New Balance last August, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the deal was “significant” and others stated it was a multiyear pact. The exclusive memorabilia deal he signed with Fanatics was reported to bring in “millions” earlier this year. It is likely that both contracts extend into his pro career. For example, Caitlin Clark signed with Nike while at Iowa before news broke around the WNBA Draft on an eight-year, $28 million contract.

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In an interview with CNBC’s Alex Sherman, Adam Schefter addressed the reporting around him potentially taking Adrian Wojnarowski’s job in addition to his NFL reporting duties, a role that was eventually filled with ESPN’s hiring of the top NBA insider on the market in Shams Charania. In fact, he could see a possibility where he could serve as an insider for all sports: “Oh, I actually think it’s very doable, very doable. I think that Woj’s skill – as a newsman, as an insider, you understand how the business works, and you understand the relationships that make it all possible. And big stories are big stories, whether they’re in football, basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, whatever it may be.”

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Schefter talked about having “golden handcuffs on the football beat” which would seem to preclude him from taking on another full-time role at the network. “So I mean, again, those types of discussions did not come up. So it’s a moot point, but I thought about it, and I definitely think Woj – you know, Woj and I talked, and if Woj had waited until our contracts were up together, which we did our deals together, I would have been interested in that. But he went early. So it’s not feasible when, to your point, I’ve got the golden handcuffs on the football beat, and that’s what I was doing, if that makes sense.”

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Players Health, a sports tech company providing digital risk-management services, reporting tools and insurance products to sports organizations, is adding an all-star name to its team. Longtime NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski is serving as a brand ambassador for Players Health, joining the company’s NIL advisory board, he told SBJ. The arrangement began at the Final Four in San Antonio, where Wojnarowski appeared on behalf of the company and moderated a pair of panels during the Silver Waves Media Global NIL Conference. “I don’t know how we could compete right now without this,” he said, referencing the insurance policies Players Health has provided for the Bonnies.

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Unlike Wojnarowski, who worked as a beat reporter at local newspapers before becoming an award-winning columnist, and Charania, who started trying to be an insider while still in high school, Fischer began his career hoping to write longform magazine features. “I never wanted to be an insider,” he said. Fischer scored an internship at Sports Illustrated in 2015 and stacked his portfolio with human interest articles. He got coffee with an NBA coach obsessed with Starbucks. He chronicled the rigorous routines that two over-40 players went through to stay on the court near the end of their careers. “I made all these relationships around the NBA by writing these non-threatening stories,” he said.

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