Rumors

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.”

Sports Media Watch

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.”

Sports Media Watch

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.

Sports Media Watch

“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.”

Sports Media Watch

It has not been confirmed or denied that Utah was that team. On Friday, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on Get Up that the Jazz will "not budge" if pressured by Bailey's camp and that he will begin his career with the team. "They will absolutely not budge on this, and eventually, Ace Bailey is going to be a Utah Jazz," Windhorst said. "We'll just see how long it takes for him and his representation to figure that out."

Bleacher Report

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, executives and agents around the NBA do not understand why Marks is so pleased. Windhorst said people had been texting him after the first round to mock the Nets. “I’ve got some people telling me some things about Brooklyn. People are making fun of this draft group,” Windhorst said. “I’ve got people saying to me, executives and agents, they’re like, ‘Man, I was watching them play three two-way guys this year so that they could clap for taking guys in the 20s.’ He’s like, ‘These two-way guys might be just as good as the guys that they’re taking.’ I don’t know anything about it. I’m just saying what people are saying.”

Larry Brown Sports

NetsKingdom: Brian Windhorst on ESPN mentions execs and agents were contacting him making fun of the Brooklyn Nets draft room. Thoughts?

Twitter

FOS: Give us your take on Windhorst, who’s a looming free agent at ESPN along with Malika Andrews. Kenny Beecham: I think he’s done an amazing job. There’s a certain feel in sports coverage nowadays that rubs a lot of normal fans the wrong way. Windy is one of the people who’s pretty traditional, pretty unbiased in a lot of his conversations. I think he just wants to do his best as a journalist. He’s almost one of a kind in 2025. He’s one of the people I really truly respect in sports coverage. So it’s going to be a blast to have him in-studio. Hopefully, we can have him unbutton his top button a little bit. Hopefully, we get him feeling really comfortable so we can get him into the fun and games. But he really does cover the sport in the way that I would if I were in his position.

Front Office Sports

Kenny Beecham: We’d love to see Windy with his top button unbuttoned. But to your point, LeBron James and other stars complain NBA media coverage has become too negative. Your take? KB: I think there has to be a healthy balance about being critical of players in the sport. They’re doing such superhuman types of things that I always get back to talking about how amazing these things are. For instance, a lot of the conversation was about how bad the OKC Thunder played [in Game 6]. But I’m more focused in my coverage about how amazing it is that the Pacers were able to come back from losing the last two games when their star player had a calf injury, and they were able to play this diplomatic brand of basketball where nobody on their team had over 14 shots. So I always steer closer to talking about the greatness that is the sport. If you compare the coverage between us, baseball, NHL, and the NFL, we definitely tend to be more negative than positive. I want to steer closer to the positive.

Front Office Sports

Iman Shumpert: To my standard, I don't feel like we should have lost the first championship in 2015. Kyrie hurt his knee. I had my shoulder out of place. Jr's back was messed up. Kevin Love's back was messed up. Brian Windhorst: No, Kevin Love's shoulder was out. Shumpert: The shoulder was out. I can't remember what LeBron's issue was, but I believe he went and got some back operation after that before the next season. Windhorst: He might have just broken news, but we'll just move past that. 

YouTube

In what was shocking news on a Sunday morning, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic in what has many debating the direction of the team. While some have said the Grizzlies should blow it all up and rebuild, one who echoed the same sentiments was ESPN’s NBA insider Brian Windhorst. Trading Bane to Orlando, Memphis got back in return Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks, and one first-round pick swap. When Windhorst gave his initial reactions to the news, he would say on “SportsCenter” that the deal is a “rebuild trade.”

Clutch Points

“What does this mean for the Grizzlies? This is now what is being asked in the league, because this is a rebuild trade,” Windhorst said. “While Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has proven to be a key piece of a championship contender twice in his career, last season did not look like that, and he has gotten older and has a big contract.” “So this is a trade where the Grizzlies are pivoting a little bit, and it’s not an insane thing,” Windhorst continued. “Because if you look at the Western Conference, and you look at how tough it is to compete, and you look at what Memphis thinks about their hand, it may be the time to do a little bit of a pivot. There’s not almost anybody in the Western Conference who is really rebuilding right now; everyone’s kind of got the gas put down.”

Clutch Points

As first reported by FOS, both reporter Brian Windhorst and NBA Countdown host Malika Andrews could become free agents by the start of next season. Windhorst’s deal is up this summer while Andrews’s contract expires this fall, sources said.

Front Office Sports

“One thing I can report is that a little over a decade ago, he actually explored our extremely plugged-in buddy, Brian Windhorst, away from ESPN, to work as an information guy for the Thunder,” Torre continued. “And the question of like, ‘Why would he do that?’ The reason that Sam Presti kicked the tires on hiring Brian Windhorst from ESPN is that information to Sam Presti is currency. It is an edge, a competitive advantage. And you don’t surrender that information.”

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