When you become an insider at the highest level, it’s an all-consuming job. Without a doubt, that was the case for longtime NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, who stunned the basketball world by announcing his retirement from ESPN on Wednesday.
Per a wide-ranging report from The Athletic, Woj cited burnout in “walking away from around $20 million with ESPN as he had nearly three years remaining on his contract at around $7 million per year.”
Wojnarowski, 55, is headed to his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, to become the GM of the men’s basketball program — far from the world of 24/7 insider news.
“Wojnarowski spoke Wednesday morning with (ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro) and ESPN president of content, Burke Magnus, who were surprised by the move,” wrote Andrew Marchand, Richard Deitsch, C.J. Moore and Alex Andrejev of The Athletic, citing sources.
“Wojnarowski conveyed to his ESPN bosses that he was completely burned out from the incessant news breaking that required him to be on his phone nearly 24/7.”
All of that would be completely understandable. For years, Wojnarowski lived his life like few others can imagine. It’s the price of being at the top of your game, as once relayed by ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan.
“I’m a slave to it. That’s the reality,” Passan said on a sports media podcast in 2022. “I look at my screen time numbers every week, and seriously I will ask myself, ‘What are you doing?’ “No, seriously. Is this worth it? What are you doing with your life?”
Those appear to be the questions asked — and now answered — by Wojnarowski.
“Wojnarowski told his bosses that with the NBA season around the corner, the thought of only having three hours of sleep per night to keep up with the latest transactions and information was unappealing,” The Athletic wrote. “He thought he could have gone on for one more season, but the St. Bonaventure job excited him in a way that news breaking no longer did.”
And with that, Woj dropped his final bomb.
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