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In September, Wojnarowski stunned the sports world when he announced his departure from ESPN and pivoted to college athletics. “I love my new job. Helping players grow as athletes and as people is incredibly rewarding,” he said. “St. Bonaventure changed my life. I was the first in my family to attend college, and this place gave me a foundation. Now, my job is to give back—whether it’s to our students, alumni, or community.” Though he remains connected with former colleagues in media, he says he has no regrets: “That chapter is closed. I loved working at ESPN, but this new role excites me in a completely different way.”
ESPN senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst, whose contract with the company is said to expire this summer, said on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast that he is not currently in active negotiations for a renewal. Windhorst has been a member of the network for the last 15 years, appearing across studio programming and other broadcasts. “I’ve been at ESPN 15 years and the company has been wonderful to me, and I would love to continue at ESPN,” Windhorst said. “There’s no negotiations, so I can very simply say to you there’s no negotiations. So I would love to stay on if that works. If that doesn’t work, I’m 47, I’m not 64. My career will continue, I hope, but I appreciate that people do write about it and care because it does show a different thing, but I’ve covered the NBA for 23 years. I want to cover the NBA.”
Windhorst acknowledged that he is not worried about the status of his deal and aligned his focus on the NBA Playoffs and subsequent events surrounding the league, which has consisted of the NBA Draft, free agency and the ongoing NBA Summer League. Over the years, he has inked a number of contracts at ESPN and shared that he has not had a stressful situation because the deals are generally lined up with the start of the league season. “When our season ends in July, a lot of people are on vacation, so it is not unusual for this business to be taken care of later,” Windhorst said. “But I’m going to keep getting up and working for ESPN.”
Former Hawks executive Grant Liffmann is joining the network, sources told Front Office Sports. His job as front office insider will be to analyze roster moves, a critical role as NBA fans obsessively follow transactions and salary-cap minutiae. The 38-year-old Liffmann is returning to NBC after spending the past three seasons with the Hawks as the VP of basketball operations under GM Landry Fields, who was fired in April. Before joining the Hawks front office, Liffmann worked for NBC Sports Bay Area for more than five years as a broadcaster for Warriors games.
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Shaquille O’Neal threatens to punch Robert Griffin III over Angel Reese posts
Shaquille O’Neal is tired of seeing Robert Griffin III post about Angel Reese. O’Neal called out Griffin, a former NFL quarterback turned media personality, saying on Bailey Jackson’s “Off the Record” podcast that if Griffin continues “messing with her,” he would punch Griffin in the face. O’Neal’s comments come after Griffin shared a racist edit of Reese’s “NBA 2K26” cover in an attempt to highlight and stop the racist treatment toward Reese. However, Griffin drew backlash for amplifying the image with his message on X on July 10, to his 2.2 million followers. “RGIII, tweet another monkey post about my girl Angel Reese, and I’m gonna punch you in your f—— face. OK? It’s enough. Like, I don’t usually do stuff like this, but just stop it, bro,” O’Neal said Tuesday. “You got your job, you got your podcast, leave my Angel Reese alone. I’m the one calling her and telling her not to respond.”
ESPN PR: ESPN signs @anthonyVslater as a national #NBA & @warriors writer, beginning Wednesday
Joel Embiid doubles down on pushing reporter for bringing up his late brother
When the columnist showed up in the locker room the next day, the two men came face to face. "The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I'm going to do to you," Embiid said. The altercation ended when Embiid shoved the columnist and Sixers staff stepped in between them. The NBA suspended Embiid three games without pay. Months later, the column still gnaws at him. "I don't care if the NBA wants to fine me $1 million, $2 million, $5 million, $10 million, I would still do it," Joel Embiid says. "If he walked up to me just like he did, I would push him away again."
Embiid hasn't stopped blaming himself for leaving his brother in Cameroon to play basketball in 2011. Francois Nyam, one of his agents in 2014, called Embiid the night Arthur died. He says the first thing Embiid managed to say after sobbing was, "That's my fault. I'm a piece of s---." Embiid's family had planned to be together on draft night in 2014, but after Embiid's first foot surgery, doctors told him not to fly. He remained in Los Angeles at his agent's home while Arthur stayed with family friends on the East Coast before returning to Cameroon. The accident happened nearly four months later. The brothers hadn't seen each other in three years. "It's never going to change," Embiid says, all but whispering. "I still feel it."
WEEKS AFTER the locker room altercation in November, the Sixers held a closed-door meeting to address the team's calamitous 2-11 start. Details of the meeting leaked the following day. Maxey, whom Embiid considers one of his best friends, confronted Embiid about being late for team events and dragging the morale of the group down. Embiid told a reporter, "Whoever leaked that is a real piece of s---." He reportedly vowed to find the source. "I know who leaked it," Embiid tells me during a late-night phone call after the season ends. "You do?" "Yeah, but I'm not going to -- the past is the past," Embiid says. "The one thing I'll say is, it's hard being around people that do those sorts of stuff. "That goes back to the trust thing. Once you cross that -- you can't expect me to be part of a team meeting again. That's just not going to happen."
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Scott Agness: Fever-Wings drew an average of 2.1 million viewers Sunday on ABC. It was the network's fourth-largest audience ever for a WNBA game, per Nielsen. It was the first pro meeting with the last three No. 1 picks: Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers.
ESPN senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst, whose contract with the company is said to expire this summer, said on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast that he is not currently in active negotiations for a renewal. Windhorst has been a member of the network for the last 15 years, appearing across studio programming and other broadcasts.
“I’ve been at ESPN 15 years and the company has been wonderful to me, and I would love to continue at ESPN,” Windhorst said. “There’s no negotiations, so I can very simply say to you there’s no negotiations. So I would love to stay on if that works. If that doesn’t work, I’m 47, I’m not 64. My career will continue, I hope, but I appreciate that people do write about it and care because it does show a different thing, but I’ve covered the NBA for 23 years. I want to cover the NBA.”
NBC continues to bolster its NBA talent lineup. Former Hawks executive Grant Liffmann is joining the network, sources told Front Office Sports. His job as front office insider will be to analyze roster moves, a critical role as NBA fans obsessively follow transactions and salary-cap minutiae.
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