Shams Charania has announced he'll be taking his NBA breaking news talents to ESPN.
On Monday, Charania revealed he'll be joining ESPN as the new Senior NBA Insider after his former mentor Adrian Wojnowrowski announced last month that he would be leaving the position he held since 2017. Charania turned down offers from NBC, Overtime, Turner, and Stadium, as well as his old stomping grounds, The Athletic, and FanDuel TV.
“I’m excited to join ESPN’s NBA coverage and all of the talented people here. My goal is to continue to raise the bar and take our coverage to another level,” Charania told Complex of the move. “I felt my focuses on news, telling stories and on-air presence was a perfect fit with everyone at ESPN.”
At 30 years old, Charania will be the youngest lead insider in ESPN's history, and it will be the company's first time working with a major entity that has over 3.2 million followers on X and Instagram. He will also be the premier guy on everything regarding the NBA for ESPN as he'll be dishing out coverage on the NBA Draft, free agency, trade deadlines, and more on various network programs such as Sportscenter, NBA Today, NBA Countdown, Get Up, and The Pat McAfee Show.
Charania's announcement comes a few weeks after sources revealed NBC and ESPN were pursuing him since his contract at The Athletic and FanDuel TV were expiring while Woj accepted a general manager position at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure. There's no official word on how much Charania will be making but Woj's contract was rumored to have a payout of $7 million and Shams is expected to be close to that range.