"Angling for more money" - NBA fans react to Shams Charania potentially spurning ESPN interest as Adrian Wojnarowski's replacement

The Woj bomb to end all Woj bombs dropped when NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski announced on September 18 that he was retiring from ESPN to become St. Bonaventure Bonnies' GM. After the initial shock of the news wore off, fans began to ask who would replace Woj.

One name that came up as a potential replacement was Shams Charania, who has often been considered a rival to Woj when it came to releasing news. However, a recent report from Sam Amico says that Charania would rather work elsewhere to compete with ESPN.

NBA fans weighed in on this report, with some suggesting that this is all just a ploy on Charania's part to get a bigger contract.

"Just angling for more money. He has leverage," one fan said.

"Woj still the Goat... But I support Shams... He got leverage... Go get the big💰," another fan said.

"Man said 'yesterday’s price is not todays price,'" one fan said.

Meanwhile, other fans seemed to prefer that Charania join one of ESPN's rival networks as an NBA insider.

"I think he may want to join NBC or Amazon and establish his own legacy rather stepping into Woj’s role," one fan said.

"It makes a lot of sense for Shams to work at a different outlet than ESPN. Amazon still makes a lot of sense to me." another fan said.

"I’d love to see him go to NBC," one fan said.

Before Adrian Wojnarowski worked for ESPN and Shams Charania for The Athletic, both men were under the employ of Yahoo! Sports. At that time, Woj became a mentor for Charania.

When the two started working at different places, they became rivals at who could break news the fastest. Their competitive exchanges played out on X (formerly Twitter), with fans eagerly awaiting who would be the first to report on roster moves.

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Three contenders to replace Adrian Wojnarowski as ESPN's NBA insider

Adrian Wojnarowski had fans captivated by how quickly he delivered news from around the NBA. When the trade deadline approached, fans always knew that they could count on Woj to deliver every development quickly, the same was true during every free agency period.

Now that he's retired, someone needs to fill that role and there is more than just one candidate.

Aside from his rival Shams Charania, who is likely the top option as a Woj replacement, there are two other insiders who could step up.

One is Brian Windhorst, who began his career as an NBA beat writer who covered the Cleveland Cavaliers. Windhorst, who went to the same high school as LeBron James is known for covering LeBron's career from the very beginning. Aside from that, he has also been working with other teams as a part of ESPN.

The third contender is Chris Haynes, who was previously a member of Turner Sports. Haynes' contract with TNT has expired, so he is a free agent, so to speak. As such, this is an opportunity for ESPN to snag him.