Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a “Woj Bomb” on himself.
ESPN’s lead NBA insider announced Wednesday on X he’s retiring from the outlet to grow to be the final supervisor of the St. Bonaventure males’s basketball program.
The information despatched shock waves by means of the sports activities media business as a result of till Wednesday morning there had been the sense that Wojnarowski, 55, can be breaking NBA information even on his deathbed.
He’s strolling away from roughly $20 million, per The Athletic.
A supply confirmed to The Submit that Wojnarowski walked away from a “substantial” sum of money left on his ESPN deal.
“I grew up the son of a manufacturing unit employee two miles from ESPN’s campus and solely ever dreamed of creating a residing as a sportswriter,” Wojnarowski wrote on X. “Thirty-seven years in the past, the Hartford Courant gave me my first byline and I by no means stopped chasing the joys of all of it.
“This craft reworked my life, however I’ve determined to retire from ESPN and the information business. I perceive the dedication required in my function and it’s an funding that I’m now not pushed to make. Time isn’t in limitless provide and I wish to spend mine in methods which are extra personally significant.”
The grind that Wojnarowski was on required him to be tethered to his phone 24/7/365, and it’s clear from his announcement that this was not what he needed to do for the remainder of his life.
As gorgeous as Wednesday’s announcement was, it was foreshadowed in a 2022 dialog that ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan had on the “Marchand and Ourand Sports activities Media Podcast,” a former three way partnership between The Submit and Sports activities Enterprise Journal.
“I’ve recognized Woj for a very long time, and I believe he’s the very best at what we do,” Passan mentioned on the time. “And Woj has this fantasy the place sooner or later — I don’t know when it’s going to be — however when he’s carried out, he’s going to take his telephone and throw it within the ocean. And, you realize what? The ocean-throw of the telephone is a dream that I’ve adopted and can steal sooner or later.”
Wojnarowski wrote for the Bergen Report early in his profession and have become a powerhouse NBA news-breaker within the early days of Yahoo Sports activities.
He expressed in his announcement how grateful he’s to those that labored with him alongside the best way.
“I depart with overwhelming gratitude for numerous mentors and colleagues, topics and tales, readers and viewers. Nobody has benefitted greater than me from the idea, belief and generosity of others,” he wrote.
“The previous seven years at ESPN have been a selected privilege. I’m appreciative of the corporate’s management — particularly Jimmy Pitaro and Cristina Daglas — for the understanding and acceptance of my determination to make a life change.
“In spite of everything these years reporting on everybody’s groups, I’m headed again to my very own.”
Wojnarowski is an alumnus of St. Bonaventure, and his new function will embody Title, Picture and Likeness (NIL) duties, recruiting and supporting head coach Mark Schmidt.
Wojnarowski didn’t reply to The Submit’s request for remark.
