NBA Twitter newsbreaker Adrian Wojnarowski is retiring

4 weeks ago

Turn off your notifications — @wojespn is hanging up his cellphone.

By Richard Lawler, a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.

Sep 18, 2024, 3:22 PM UTC

Adrian Wojnarowski looks on during the 2024 NBA Draft - Round One on June 26, 2024, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Adrian Wojnarowski has been reporting insider NBA news for ESPN since 2017, but he’s best known for his news-breaking tweets about trades, free agency signings, and other deals. Now Wojnarowski says he’s retiring from the NBA beat.

For basketball fans, “Woj bombs” became a reason to have your phone on and Twitter notifications set, both to get instant updates about player movement and to avoid getting sucked in by fake accounts and rumors. In a 2015 GQ interview, Wojnarowski said his Twitter stardom got started with the 2009 NBA draft:

When did you first realize that Twitter could be such a powerful weapon in the breaking news?

I guess it was the 2009 Draft. It was the day before the draft and I was with Johnny Ludden, my editor at Yahoo and his wife (girlfriend at the time) Jennifer Banda. I kept saying to Johnny, I’m getting all this information on draft night. No one’s seeing it. By the time you put it up, it’s gone. How do I get this stuff out there? I’m getting this information on picks. What do we do with it? And Jennifer goes, well, get on Twitter.

Others also report sports dealmaking info — his former protege-turned-rival Shams Charania is reportedly a “looming” media free agent — but Woj has been at the top of the heap for a long time.

Wojnarowski announced his retirement from ESPN and the news industry in a post on Wednesday, and ESPN reports he will become the general manager of the men’s basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure.

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