Report: Shams Charania, Jeff Passan candidates to replace Woj as ESPN’s NBA Insider | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

As ESPN searches for a successor to Adrian Wojnarowski in the NBA following his surprise retirement, the network has reportedly zeroed in on Shams Charania and Jeff Passan as potential candidates for the job.

According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Charania and Passan are considered top candidates to replace Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski announced on September 18 that he was retiring from the news industry to take a job as general manager at St. Bonaventure, from which he graduated in 1991.

The Athletic reported that ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and content president Burke Magnus were “surprised” when Wojnarowski informed them of his decision.

Charania felt like the most obvious candidate to fill in for Wojnarowski because they’ve essentially been doing the same job in the NBA for years, albeit for competing outlets. The two had a mentor-protective relationship when they worked together at Yahoo Sports before the dynamic reportedly became more hostile over time.

Passan would be an outside-the-box choice because his main swing was Major League Baseball. He also co-wrote a book about college football with Dan Wetzel and Josh Peter titled Death to the BCS: The Final Case Against the Bowl Championship Series which was released in 2010.

Although ESPN has a partnership with MLB, there is speculation that the network could abandon its current television deal with the league after next season.

Puck’s John Ourand noted that ESPN doesn’t necessarily want to get out of the baseball business, but it wants to be able to “get more for its $550 million annual deal” and could add local rights to its deal at a time when MLB is. tries to find a solution to the problem of the regional sports network.

According to Marchand, some decision makers at ESPN want to reshape the role of the top NBA insider. Passan has reported news and written long-form stories as part of his MLB coverage for the network.

Charania, like Wojnarowski during his time at ESPN, is primarily a news breaker who appears on television and radio.

If Passan were to take the job, Marchand noted he would be mentored by Wojnarowski and current analyst Bobby Marks as he learned to cover the NBA beat.

The NBA signed a new 11-year media rights deal worth $76 billion in July, with ABC and ESPN retaining rights to the top slate of games, including the NBA Finals.