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Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA Insider, Says He’ll Leave ESPN for College Role

brian steinberg
·2-min read

ESPN may need to come up with a new method for getting inside the NBA.

Adrian Wojnarowski, who has diligently chronicled team moves, trades and more within professional basketball for the Disney sports-media giant for seven years, has decided to move along, citing a desire to improve his lifestyle. Within minutes of the distribution of his announcement of his decision to exit ESPN, it was revealed that he would move into working in college sports, as a general manager of the men’s basketball team at St. Bonaventure University in New York, his alma mater.

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“I understand the commitment required in my role, and it’s an investment that I’m no longer driven to make,” Wojnarowski said in a statement. “Time isn’t in endless supply and I want to spend mine in ways that are personally more meaningful.”

The split appears to be amicable. Wojnarowski is “extraordinarily talented and fearless,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, in a statement. “He has led the industry at ESPN and his dedication to his craft is legendary. While we will miss his daily output, we completely understand his decision to make a lifestyle change and slow down a bit.”

Before joining ESPN in 2017, Wojnarowski spent nearly a decade at Yahoo Sports. He also spent almost ten years at The Record of New Jersey, which he joined after logging stints at the Fresno Bee and the Republican-American of Waterbury, Conn. He was namedthe National Sports Media Association’s National Sportswriter of the Year in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He is on a distinguished list of sportswriters who won that award in at least three consecutive years, which includes Red Smith, Jim Murray, Frank Deford, Rick Reilly, Bob Ryan and Tom Verducci. He is also the author of “The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball’s Most Improbable Dynasty.”

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