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Adrian Wojnarowski, the ESPN NBA insider who changed how the league was covered and became a trusted news breaker of trades and signings, had one final “Woj bomb” to drop — he announced his own retirement from ESPN and basketball coverage.
He will take over as the general manager for the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team — the university he graduated from in 1991 and was always close to his heart.
Wojnarowski stepped away on his own terms. He had three years and about $20 million left on his contract with ESPN, according to The Athletic, but has chosen to retire from covering the NBA entirely. This is a personal move for him, choosing to spend his time closer to family and working on something important to him.
“I’m thrilled and humbled to return to St. Bonaventure with an opportunity to serve the university, Coach Mark Schmidt and our elite Atlantic 10 men’s basketball program,” Wojnarowski said. “In these changing times of college sports, I’m eager to join a championship program that combines high-level basketball, national television exposure, pro preparation and NIL opportunities with an intimate, supportive educational environment.”
This is a dramatic change for fans and people around the league. Wojnarowski was THE trusted source for breaking news of trades and free-agent signings around the league. There had been NBA insiders before Wojnarowski — dating back to Peter Vecsey of the NBA on NBC and The New York Post — but Woj’s focus on transactions and use of social media, specifically Twitter (now X), took off, changed both how the sport was covered and how fans responded to it.
It was not just fans — numerous NBA players learned they were traded on a Woj tweet. NBA executives’ phones would light up with notifications when Wojnarowski tweeted, they were learning of some things when fans were.
The NBA family congratulates Woj on a well-earned next chapter. He’s been an integral part of our league for decades and we wish him all the best in his new venture. Sources close to the situation say that his future is bright. pic.twitter.com/csGFOOEKtP
— NBA (@NBA) September 18, 2024
Wojnarowski rose to prominence at Yahoo Sports, and in the mid-2010s he simply was better at breaking news than ESPN — so the company hired him in a massive deal in 2017. Wojnarowski was one of the mainstays of ESPN’s NBA coverage, leaving a big hole for the organization to fill.
St. Bonaventure, a Catholic university with an enrollment of around 2000, is located in southwest New York amid the Allegheny Mountains. Its basketball team is a member of the A10 and made the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Wojnarowski’s role is still being defined, but it likely involves both NIL and using his impressive contact list to help bring talent to the school where he graduated.