Longtime NBA reporter and writer Adrian Wojnarowski’s decision to leave ESPN and join the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team as general manager reverberated through the league Wednesday – from the NBA office in New York to team front offices to agents across North America and beyond.
The NBA communications department posted a tribute to him on social media, concluding with “Sources close to the situation say that his future is bright.” It was a nod to his stature and his wealth of inside information.
Over the course of more than two decades covering the NBA, Wojnarowski established – and maintained – relationships with the most important people in the league, and in turn, he become one of the biggest names in the league – the preeminent newsbreaker (Woj bomb!) and influential insider who flourished online, on TV and on multiple social media sites.
Here’s what NBA execs and agents had to say about Wojnarowski and his departure from ESPN:
Sam Presti, Oklahoma City Thunder executive vice president and general manager
“Skill is seen over a long-time horizon, and when you think about someone like Adrian, what’s clear is he always adapted to all the changes to the industry and the league over a long period of time. He’s regularly operating at ownership levels, with many people at the league office, and the agent community in ways that were not thought possible when he first began.
“Then take into account that he can write long or short form, navigate social media, podcasts, and also perform on TV. It all illustrates how he not only adapted, but pioneered a skillset of possessing all these tools together and not just specializing for a period of time when the conditions suited how you learned the business. I think it’s great that he’s transitioning to something that he’s so excited about and I’m sure he will pioneer and adapt to many things much the same way there.”
Lawrence Frank, Los Angeles Clippers president of basketball operations
“I was fortunate to know him when I was with the Nets and Adrian was with the Bergen Record, so you’re going back over 24, 25 years. And he’s the same guy now as he was then. And I think it’s just his care factor for all people and how he went about his business. Obviously, he’s a relentless worker, but his relationships that he had throughout the league were all based on real giving. A majority of the conversations I had with Adrian didn’t even have anything to do with basketball. He obviously has a competitive drive. But when I first knew Adrian, it was never about breaking news. He was a terrific writer, was columnist for the Bergen Record. Obviously, Miracle of St. Anthony is an unbelievable book. And I have a lot of respect for Adrian because obviously he dealt with the entire league, and he was such a trusted source.
“And yet you don’t trust someone based on just a leap of faith. You earn trust every single day with your actions. And I think that’s why Adrian was the top of his profession and an elite in what he’s done and why he’s had such an impact. It goes way beyond the NBA. And I think even this decision to do what he’s doing for his alma mater, it’s all about doing things that are right for you and right for your family.”
Aaron Mintz, NBA agent
“It’s his work ethic, his character, his compassion, and his ability to build real, genuine relationships. He was elite in all of those. And the trust you had with him because of his strong value system was huge. He’s sharp, and his emotional intelligence is off the charts as well. He was the best at what he did. He did it the right way. And it’s interesting, as shocking as this was to many people, knowing who Woj is, I think it’s fantastic that he retired on his terms. He retired on top. It’s so rare to be able to do that. And it’s pretty cool.”
Justin Zanik, Utah Jazz general manager
“He did it not only with hard work and drive, but he did it with compassion. He always tried to understand what was going on and the purpose, not just to break the news, which I think is what had made him so successful. So when I saw the news, it made a lot of sense to me that he had standards for what he wanted to do for the rest of his life and the other dreams he wants to pursue. And his family, with his kids getting older and having a chance to be able to spend time with him, going out on top is never a bad thing.”
Mark Bartelstein, NBA and NFL agent
“First and foremost, it’s his work ethic. He was relentless, but not relentless in a negative way. Sometimes in the media, relentlessness can get people in trouble. Where you lose trust, you lose respect because you’re more out for the story than you are about understanding people’s lives are involved. And to me with Adrian, where I have so much respect for him, is that he fully understood that. There were times when it wasn’t the right time to share information, it wasn’t the right time to do a story yet, and he would always put himself second to making sure that he wasn’t doing something that was damaging to someone. And so I had great respect for that.
“Everything that we’re used to doing, we’re not doing it the same way a few months down the road, and nowhere is that more prevalent than in the media world. Adrian adapted with that, with the way media is consumed, with the way media is distributed. He always made sure that he was staying fresh and poignant with the way he was delivering his information. You’ve got to give him a lot of credit for that, the world that he lived in. I can understand why he made this change, because what he was doing, when you say 24/7, it is literally 24/7. It’s like being on call every moment because news never stops nowadays. There’s no offseason. It’s constant. And so what he was doing was a tremendously draining daily experience because of the constant flow of information.”
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
