Marc Stein On Odds To Replace Woj: ‘Please Tell Me You Wouldn’t Dare Bet On This’

When it comes to NBA free agency in September, the insider movement has become all the rage. At least, it is for those who care about such things.

Most of the buzz started last week, when legendary news-bomb dropper Adrian Wojnarowski announced he’s leaving ESPN to become the GM of the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball program.

Since then, the question of who will replace Woj has become a hot topic around the league — for fans, players, coaches and other insiders alike. (Goodness knows, we’ve sure written a lot about it on this very website.)

Oh, and let’s not forget the gamblers. They too are in on the NBA insider speculation — with no less than betting outlet Bovada releasing odds on who will land the ESPN gig.

For the record, Shams Charanoia of The Athletic has the best odds, followed by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports and Marc Stein of The Stein Line, respectively.

Of all those names, Stein is the only one in the media wing of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is also a former employee at the Worldwide Leader, a big-time newsbreaker, a great dude and a man who has proven to flourish in front of the camera. And make no mistake, being on television is a big part of this job.

But Stein made it clear that he thinks the entire idea of betting on NBA insiders is … well, kind of silly. 

“Please, please, please tell me you wouldn’t dare bet on this,” Stein wrote in his latest newsletter, underneath a screenshot of a tweet about the Woj-replacement odds.

Again, Stein’s plea makes good sense. Why would anyone want to bet on insiders, as opposed to, you know, actual games?

That said, if odds are released, you can be sure gamblers will want in on the action. Now all we need is odds on who will break the news about Wojnarowski’s replacement.

• Related | Who will ESPN hire to replace Woj? Perhaps nobody

Shams Charania could be more determined to beat out ESPN than simply replace Adrian Wojnarowski, per @AmicoHoops pic.twitter.com/mDFPPvcgrw

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 23, 2024