There is no doubt that the sports world was shocked when NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski announced his retirement from ESPN and the media space to be the general manager of St. Bonaventure's basketball program. As Wojnarowski is getting farewells by colleagues like Stephen A. Smith, one aspect people could be asking about is the money which has been revealed.
According to The Athletic, Wojnarowski is “walking away from more than $20 million with ESPN.”
“He is walking away from more than $20 million with ESPN,” The Athletic wrote. “As he had nearly three years remaining on his contract at around $7 million per year, three people briefed on the move said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of Wojnarowski’s contract.”
Adrian Wojnarowski thanks ESPN in statement
Per The Athletic through their sources, executives at ESPN were shocked by the decision as Wojnarowski was tired of the non-stop pace of the job where he was the top person to break news about the NBA in terms of trades, free agent signings, and more. Wojnarowski posted the announcement on his X, formerly Twitter, account where he spoke about his appreciation to ESPN and later told the outlet about his excitement to be with his alma mater of St. Bonaventure.
“The past seven years at ESPN have been a particular privilege,” Wojnarowski posted. “I'm appreciative of the company's leadership — especially Jimmy Pitaro and Cristina Daglas — for the understanding and acceptance of my decision to make a life change. After all these years reporting on everyone's teams, I'm heading back to my own.”
“It is a thrill of a lifetime to be able to return to a university and community that I love in a role of service to our student-athletes, coaches and institution,” Wojnarowski told ESPN. “I am hopeful that I can bring value in a lot of areas to our basketball program and open doors for our young men's futures in ways both professionally and personally.”
Adrian Wojnarowski onto next chapter with St. Bonaventure
In the new role with the school he attended, the press release states that 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.”
Wojnarowski also had a statement via the aforementioned press release talking about being “humbled” in returning to his former school and hopes to spread his knowledge to student-athletes.
“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.
“I'm hopeful to share with members of our community some best practices learned from the most successful franchises and minds in the NBA and committed to opening doors globally for our players both on and off the court,” Wojnarowski continued.
It remains to be seen if ESPN will replace Wojnarowski in his exact role as reportedly Shams Charania and Chris Haynes are contenders to fill the void.
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