Adrian Wojnarowski Hired by ESPN as NBA Insider from Yahoo Sports

Adrian Wojnarowski is leaving Yahoo Sports for ESPN, the sports media giant announced in a press release Wednesday. 

Kevin Draper, formerly of Deadspin, first reported Feb. 8 that Wojnarowski was nearing an agreement with ESPN. 

"I have a determination to cover this sport with the same passion as fans have in following it," Wojnarowski said, per the release. "ESPN's commitment to gathering, breaking and covering NBA news—and its unparalleled combination of media to share those stories with a global audience—makes for an exciting opportunity to do that. There's a lot of work to be done and I'm eager to get started."

Wojnarowski has an established track record as one of the NBA's premier news-breakers. He earned that title while operating as the face of Yahoo Sports' coverage of the Association, and he's regularly been the first to relay word of trades, free-agent signings and even draft picks over the last decade-plus. 

In January 2016, Wojnarowski helped launch The Vertical—which has been the home for Yahoo's NBA coverage since its inception.

When The Vertical first launched, Wojnarowski brought several acclaimed journalists on board, including Michael Lee, formerly of the Washington Post, Chris Mannix, formerly of Sports Illustrated and Shams Charania, formerly of RealGM. 

Citing a source, Draper reported "some" of The Vertical's dozen or so employees are expected to join Wojnarowski at ESPN. 

According to Wednesday's release, front-office insider Bobby Marks will join Wojnarowski at ESPN. 

As for Wojnarowski's role with his new employer, it would be fair to expect him to be an anchor of ESPN's web coverage as well as a contributor on some of the cable giant's flagship shows. Wojnarowski previously served as Fox Sports 1's on-air hoops insider, so he has experience in that arena. 

"There will be time to sit down and maybe do longer form television pieces over time," he told For The Win's Adi Joseph. "Then the print component will be similar to what I've done. I think I'll be very visible to people on the TV side on all of ESPN's NBA properties, and SportsCenter and news shows."

Wojnarowski also ventured into video more with The Vertical, where the site's biggest contributors appeared on live-streamed free-agency shows and draft specials during the NBA calendar's busiest nights.