Adrian Wojnarowski left some big shoes to fill at ESPN after stunningly announcing his retirement last month and to the network's credit, they landed the best possible replacement. Shams Charania is the new senior NBA insider for ESPN and Wojanrowski was asked about his former protege being hired for the role during an appearance on the Jim Rome Show .
"Listen, Shams texted me after I announced my retirement," Wojnarowski said. "What I told him is what I would say today, that I hope he has as fulfilling and as rewarding of a career as I've had. And I certainly wish that for him.
"He's right about the incredible group of colleagues that he's going to find at ESPN," Wojnarowski continued. "The best of the best, incredible reporters, on-air talent. For me, that was the best part of working at ESPN... Wish him the best, and he's got a great team around him at ESPN."
It is quite notable that Charania texted Wojnarowski after his retirement. These two had quite an intense rivalry behind the scenes for years, as they were the top dogs in the insider business. Perhaps now that Wojnarowski has retired and become the General Manager of St. Bonaventure's basketball program, their relationship can get back to what it once was.
Charania got his first big break thanks to Wojnarowski, who hired him to be a part of his team at Yahoo in 2015. He is even reported to have taken the younger reporter under his wing back in those days.
Then in 2017, Wojnarowski joined ESPN and Charania had a chance to follow him, but didn't. He stayed with Yahoo for another year before joining the Athletic in 2018. It was there that he really started making a name for himself and emerged as a great "rival" to Wojnarowski.
Last year, NBA officials described Wojnarowski and Charania's relationship as similar to Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. There was a lot of competitive tension between them, but that should die down now.
Wojnarowski decided to quit the rat race at the age of 55 to focus on things that were more personally meaningful to him. In the statement he released on social media to announce his retirement, he stated he was no longer willing to make the commitment that was required for someone in his role.
NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed what Wojnarowski's life in the media has been like and it's completely understandable that he no longer wishes to live that way at his age. He even reportedly walked from $20 million by retiring from ESPN, which lets you know he was just done with the insider business at this point.
The 30-year-old Charania is still some ways away from getting to that stage by the looks of it. His daily schedule is rather unforgiving, though, as he averages 18 hours of screen time a day and sends about 500 texts/emails.
Even when on vacation, Charania spends over 12 hours a day on his phone and his commitment is ridiculous. You do worry about the long-term impact of this kind of lifestyle, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if he retires from the insider business at a much younger age than Wojnarowski.
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