Current:Home > NewsShams Charania replaces mentor-turned-rival Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN -WealthRoots Academy
Shams Charania replaces mentor-turned-rival Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN
View
Date:2025-04-12 03:59:53
This story has been updated with new information.
ESPN is replacing former NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski with his chief rival and former protégé.
Shams Charania announced Monday he is joining ESPN as its senior NBA insider, going from Wojnarowski's main competition for news around the league to his successor at the network.
"I am honored to join ESPN as the company's Senior NBA Insider," Charania wrote on social media. "I can't wait to be part of an incredible group of colleagues at ESPN and serve the audience worldwide."
IN DEPTH:The five greatest "Woj Bombs" of Adrian Wojnarowski's illustrious career
Wojnarowski announced his retirement from ESPN last month. He is now working as the general manager of men's basketball at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure. Charania, who most recently worked for The Athletic and FanDuel TV, was immediately considered a leading candidate to take over Wojnarowski's role.
The 30-year-old had become a well-known NBA presence over the past decade, initially breaking news as a teenager before working under Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports. He then emerged as a rival with his own brand once Wojnarowski was hired by ESPN in 2017. Their battle for scoops became a storyline much like the games and players they were reporting on, although both have mostly declined comment when asked about the other.
Charania was already a frequent guest on "The Pat McAfee Show," and McAfee publicly campaigned for him to be Wojnarowski's replacement after Wojnarowski's retirement became official.
Who is Shams Charania?
Charania grew up in the Chicago area and, according to a profile by Complex Magazine written in 2016, his reporting career began in high school when ChicagoNOW, a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune, allowed him to write daily game recaps. He parlayed that into a job at the website, RealGM, while he was a college student at Loyola-Chicago.
Charania was so young that the Chicago Bulls would not give him a credential to games immediately, so he would drive to Bucks games in Milwaukee to connect with NBA players and personnel. He began to gain traction nationally in 2014 when he broke the news of Luol Deng being traded from the Bulls to the Cleveland Cavaliers for RealGM.
Charania was then hired by Yahoo! Sports – while still taking college classes – after Wojnarowski took notice of him. The Washington Post reported in recent years that Charania was presented with an opportunity to join Wojnarowski at ESPN when he left Yahoo! in 2017, but elected to stay. His scoops have become part of the fabric of the league's machinations in recent years, so much so that "Shams" is referred to around the NBA by a one-word nickname just like "Woj."
“He will be the news breaker in the NBA—whether it’s tomorrow or next year or five years from now," Wojnarowski told Complex in 2016.
How old is Shams Charania?
Charania turned 30 years old last April.
veryGood! (139)
Related
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Introduction to GalaxyCoin
- Uber is helping investigators look into account that sent driver to Ohio home where she was killed
- Remains identified as 2 missing Kansas women at center of Oklahoma murder case
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Alabama children who were focus of Amber Alert, abduction investigation, found safe
- Feds charge arms dealers with smuggling grenade launchers, ammo from US to Iraq and Sudan
- Bojangles expands to California: First location set for LA, many more potentially on the way
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Howard University student killed in campus crash, reports say faculty member was speeding
Ranking
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- A Washington State Coal Plant Has to Close Next Year. Can Pennsylvania Communities Learn From Centralia’s Transition?
- Supreme Court to hear biggest homeless rights case in decades. What both sides say.
- Viral claims about Donald Trump's hush money trial, fact checked
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- New York’s high court hears case on abortion insurance coverage
- Trevor Bauer accuser charged with felony fraud after she said pitcher got her pregnant
- Cyberattack hits New York state government’s bill drafting office
Recommendation
The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
Carl Erskine, longtime Dodgers pitcher and one of the Boys of Summer, dies at 97
New Pringle-themed Crocs will bring you one step closer to combining 'flavor' and 'fashion'
Democrats who investigated Trump say they expect to face arrest, retaliation if he wins presidency
North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
A Tarot reading told her money was coming. A lottery ticket worth $500K was in her purse.
Some families left in limbo after Idaho's ban on gender-affirming care for minors allowed to take effect
Ford recalls over 450,000 vehicles in US for issue that could affect battery, NHTSA says