Shams Charania has confirmed what many have speculated in recent weeks: he will succeed Adrian Wojnarowski as ESPN’s senior NBA insider.
Charania, who spent the previous six years at The Athletic after making his name at Yahoo! Sports, announced the news on social media.
‘I am honored to join ESPN as the company’s Senior NBA Insider,’ he wrote. ‘I can’t wait to be part of an incredible group of colleagues at ESPN and serve the sports audience worldwide.’
He ended his statement ‘Being a member of ESPN is a dream come true. The grind continues.’
He had also been an onscreen contributor to Stadium (which he left in August) and FanDuel TV.
Shams Charania has been confirmed as ESPN’s new NBA Insider following the departure of Adrian Wojnarowski
‘Woj’ announced in September that he was retiring from journalism and leaving ESPN
Charania, 30, has established himself as one of the top NBA news breakers and frequently rivaled his former boss Wojnarowski for scoops during the latter’s time at ESPN.
Charania previously worked under Wojnarowski at Yahoo!.
The hiring of Charania comes after Wojnarowski shockingly announced he was retiring from journalism on September 18.
He left his role with ESPN to become the general manager of the men’s basketball program at St. Bonaventure, his alma mater.
‘Woj,’ as he was affectionally called by his ESPN colleagues, was believed to be making $7million per year as ESPN’s top NBA scoopster.
The Athletic previously reported that the network’s Jeff Passan, who is an MLB insider, had emerged as a candidate to switch beats and replace his friend Wojnarowski.
However, that did not come to fruition and on Monday Passan posted the iconic ‘I’m not f***ing leaving’ scene from Wolf of Wall Street after the Charania news had broken.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan will remain on the MLB beat instead of moving over to NBA duties
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter was also reported to be in consideration to succeed ‘Woj’
He added below, ‘Baseball’s better anyway.’
Front Office Sports also reported earlier this month that ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter could become the ‘ultimate insider’ and add NBA reporting duties on top of his existing football role.
Charania’s move also follows the ouster of popular NBA writer and analyst Zach Lowe from the network.
Lowe was making in excess of $1million before being laid off, according to The Athletic.
