Shams Charania May Want To Beat ESPN, Not Join It

In today’s tale of NBA insiders on the move, we take a look at Shams Charania of The Athletic, who now stands alone on top of the news-breaking mountain.

That became the case after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced he was leaving the industry to become the GM of St. Bonaventure basketball.

I know. For those in the NBA community, this still feels like a strange dream. But hey, it had to end sometime.

Anyway, about Charania. As of Monday afternoon, he had yet to mention a single word publicly about the retirement of his one-time mentor. In case you forget, Wojnarowski once hired Charania to join him on the since-dissolved Yahoo Sports site The Vertical. Then Woj left for ESPN. He wanted Charania to come with him, according to first-hand accounts. Charania opted to stay at Yahoo. Now, he’s with The Athletic, though his contract is soon up.

So Charania is entering NBA media free agency. What timing, huh?

Now, that said, Woj could act as an adviser for ESPN in finding his replacement. If that’s the case, Charania could be out.

And sources told Hoops Wire that scenario likely would be fine with Charania. He may be more determined to try to beat ESPN in breaking news than sign on with the network as Woj’s replacement, several sports media insiders said.

“Yes, there’s mutual respect,” wrote Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. “But there’s no love lost between Wojnarowski and Charania.”

Along with ESPN, the likes of NBC Sports and Amazon will soon be hiring NBA insiders as the league’s new media rights holders (starting in 2025). A lot of people around the industry believe Charania is headed for NBC. Others think he’ll just re-up with The Athletic and FanDuel TV.

Yet some think he eventually will be talked into signing on with ESPN (by money). Love it or hate it, the Worldwide Leader still has the largest reach of any sports outlet.

Will that and a pay raise be enough to lure Charania? Or will the feud with Woj stand in the way? Guess we’ll find out soon enough. And it will be real interesting to see who drops that particular news bomb.