NBA insider Shams Charania replaces Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN

Your new top news breaker.

We’re just two weeks away from another NBA season getting started, and only 15 days away from the first game of the Golden State Warriors season. And right before tipping off yet another (hopefully) great season, the landscape of NBA media and coverage is getting quite a shakeup.

A few weeks ago we were hit with the shocking news that ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the top news-breaker in the NBA, was retiring. The proprietor of the famous “Woj Bomb,” Wojnarowski admirably stated that he wanted a more fulfilling line of work, and left a contract that reportedly paid him $7 million annually to become the general manager of the men’s basketball team at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure. He leaves behind quite a legacy of breaking NBA news.

Wojnarowski’s retirement made Shams Charania — then of The Athletic — the de facto lead NBA news breaker. Charania, who cut his teeth in breaking NBA news while working alongside Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports, had emerged as the 1B to Woj’s 1A, with the two combining to break almost every major piece of NBA news, plus a fair amount of WNBA news, too.

And now, with Wojnarowski changing professions, Charania is fully taking his former tutor’s spot. On Monday, Charania — who was also employed by Stadium — announced that he would be moving to the worldwide leader in sports, taking Wojnarowski’s role as Senior NBA Insider.

With the move, we can expect to see Charania in the role that fans had grown accustomed to seeing Wojnarowski in over the last few years. In addition to being a staple of every NBA fan’s Twitter account, Charania will presumably make ample appearances on ESPN’s host of shows, notably NBA Today and NBA Countdown.

But while the transition from Woj to Charania will likely be smooth, it’s not all good news for fans of ESPN’s NBA coverage. About a week before the Charania news broke, it was reported that Senior NBA Writer Zach Lowe had been let go by ESPN. Lowe, a frequent guest on those aforementioned shows, in addition to the host of a tremendous podcast and, quite arguably, the best basketball writer alive, is a massive loss, and ESPN’s coverage will undoubtedly suffer. It is, unfortunately, the latest in a move away from analysis, and towards talking-head buffoonery.