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Basketball insider Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a bomb of his own when he announced his retirement from sports media and will instead be the general manager for the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team. With the news, his ESPN colleague Stephen A. Smith issued a farewell message on the show “First Take” Wednesday morning.
.@stephenasmith reacts to @wojespn retiring from ESPN ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hZiGCjXAwf
— First Take (@FirstTake) September 18, 2024
In the nearly two-minute clip, Smith sung the praises of Wojnarowski calling him “the best in the business” in the world of sports journalism.
He now returns to his alma mater where as the general manager, he will “serve the coaching staff in managing a wide range of responsibilities including name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities and as a liaison with collectives; transfer portal management; recruit, family and alumni player relationships; professional player programs; and program fundraising.”
Stephen A. Smith doubles down on appreciation for Adrian Wojnarowski
Wojnarowski was well known in the industry for being one of the more “well connected” as Smith said in breaking news first with the NBA whether it be trades, free agent signings, and more. Smith worked closely with Wojnarowski as the two were featured on ESPN's “NBA countdown.”
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“I've gotten to know Woj over the last couple of years working on the NBA countdown,” Smith said. “He's the best in the business, make no mistake about it. Nobody's more well connected, nobody's more respected and to be around him and to just have to be able to touch on a wealth of knowledge that he's had in all of his years covering the league, the contacts that he has, the inside information that he's had.”
“He's led this place for quite a long time as you well know, there are many, many occasions where we won't even go on the air and report something unless we hear from Woj first,” Smith continued. “He's meant that much to this place, he's a part of this institution, somebody that you know, just speaking on behalf of the whole NBA countdown team and all of us who have worked with him over the last few years, he's the best in the business, he's absolutely exceptional, a high end professional.”
Stephen A. Smith says Adrian Wojnarowski “loves St. Bonaventure”
The now former ESPN reporter released a statement on his X, formerly Twitter, account saying how grateful he is for the work done at the outlet and is excited about his next step at St. Bonaventure. Smith would finish his message to his friend by saying that he hopes that Wojnarowski made the decision freely.
“He has my profound respect and I just hope that this is a very, very very happy move, and I anticipate that it is because we certainly didn't ask him to leave, I can assure you of that,” Smith said. “This is something that he's doing of his own volition. So one would surmise that he's incredibly happy and comfortable with the decision that he's making and if anybody deserves to be in a position to make this kind of information for the betterment of their quality of life, he would be that individual. He loves St. Bonaventure, make no mistake about that. I'm happy for him. But, I'm sad for us as a network, because a little devastating loss for us to not have him.”
It remains to be seen if ESPN will fill in the spot left by Wojnarowski.
