To the fans, Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski were battling to be the best NBA reporter. When Woj stepped down to move to a new venture that came to an end. Early on Monday it was announced that Shams will be joining ESPN.
When Woj retired, ESPN went through an extensive search to find their next Senior NBA Reporter. That search included guys like Jeff Passan and Adam Schefter, both of whom will stay in their current roles. It also included people outside of ESPN like Shams Charania and Jake Fischer with Yahoo Sports. Out of any of those guys, Shams is arguably the most well-known names in the basketball community. So why not bring him to ESPN?
At just 30-years-old, we might get used to seeing his byline at ESPN for a long time into the future. According to multiple reports, his contracts with both The Athletic and FanDuel were set to expire.
Many of his future colleagues at ESPN have already expressed their gratitude, including Pat McAfee who was stoked about the addition.
Woj also sent gratitude in support of Shams Charania being his successor at ESPN.
The contractual agreements between the two sides have not yet been revealed, but having Shams was mentored by Wojnarowski at Yahoo. So behind the scenes, they knew each other very well. Now as far as ESPN goes, everything will stay in place with Schefter and Passan staying in their respective sports. Charania will be the leading voice in basketball breaking news.
“Shams is one of the most well-connected and accomplished journalists in sports and we’re proud that he will now call ESPN his home,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN President, Content. “We’re excited for Shams to join our industry-leading NBA team. We know he’ll make an immediate and positive impact.”
ESPN has announced that Shams Charania will officially make his debut later this week.
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