Adrian Wojnarowski's retirement was a shocking moment for many in the sports media world, as the longtime NBA insider called it a career after years of being first to nearly every major story in the sport. After the announcement on Wednesday, many at ESPN reflected on their time with Wojnarowski, sending a valued colleague off with kind words after a distinguished career. Adam Schefter took things a step further with an emotional tribute to Wojnarowski, discussing the difficulties that go into the profession.
"He wanted his life back. He didn't want to have to work on holidays. He didn't want to be away from more family gatherings," Schefter said on Wednesday.
"He didn't want to have to...
take a shower with your phone up against the shower door so you can see a text that's coming in, or take your phone with you to the urinal and hold it in one hand while you take care of your business in the other. That's the life that we live." During the most recent episode of his podcast, sports personality and former ESPN writer Bill Simmons couldn't believe the emotional reaction from Schefter and others at the network.
"You can't react after Adrian Wojnarowski retires either, like Adam Schefter did," Simmons said with a laugh. "This is a real thing Adam Schefter said on television. Was Woj an ER doctor during COVID, I wasn’t sure.
" Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images Some agreed with Simmons' assessment of the situation. "One of my favorite things about Bill is he is pretty self aware about the fact that sports media is a dream career and his job is very easy.
All these other big media people act like it’s this grueling job," said one fan . "You may not love it. You may not be down with it.
But you must admit that every now and then Bill Simmons breaks out the old 97 MPH fastball and paints the corner and it's beautiful," said another fan . "Simmons brought out the heater on this one. Absolutely dead on.
If you didn’t read the specifics of what Woj was doing you’d have thought he died by the responses," another fan added . Wojnarowski was a great reporter and insider, but it seems that some fans are asking for a little more perspective from those reflecting on his career. Related: Everyone Has Same Replacement In Mind For Adrian Wojnarowski.
