“Woj’s worst nightmare would have been Shams breaking the news of his retirement” The following quote handed out by a source to Front Office Sports reporter Michael McCarthy showed that Adrian Wojnarowski wanted to have control over one final ‘Woj Bomb’ before hanging his shoes. For more than half a decade, the former ESPN reporter and his prodigy, Shams Charania, competed to see who would break the news first over any major trades, acquisitions, retirement announcements, or contract extensions taking place in the NBA world. Now, with Woj recently not present to drop a major update first, the reality of his absence is starting to set in for many.

Early today, Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns took to his official X account to simply drop an “…”. Anyone wondering the meaning of the same didn’t have to wait for long. Exactly six minutes later, Shams Charania himself took to X to reveal that the 4x NBA All-Star is being traded, and that too to the New York Knicks! While speculation about such a situation had been running rampant for the better part of the month, ‘The Athletic’ reporter was the one to break the news of his trade first, and no one can take that away from him.

Publicly, Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski only displayed feelings of mutual respect for each other. While there may have been no personal resentment, staying on top of the competition caused them to establishing a professional rivalry. And if the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson and LeBron James-Stephen Curry sagas have taught us anything, it is that NBA fans love a good professional rivalry. From New York magazine reporter Reeves Wiedeman comparing it to a ‘cold war’ to a Washington Post report comparing them to Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, it was definitely unusual to see Charania winning without his main competition. So did fans, who were quick to react to the ‘Charania Bomb.’

Fans share mixed reactions after Shams Charania’s update about Karl-Anthony Towns: “Missing Woj bad right now…”

NBA enthusiasts may not have been the only been who were missing Adrian Wojnarowski today. As highlighted by one social media user “ESPN missing Woj bad right now… Shams price going up every minute.”

Fortunately, if the sports network plays its cards right, then Wojnarowski’s absence won’t be felt for long. According to sources, Shams Charania is being considered alongside Chris Haynes as a potential replacement for the 55-year-old. He is being described as a ‘pending free agent’ as his contract will soon come to a close, providing ESPN the perfect opportunity to swoop in. At the same time, however, ESPN and Amazon are also reportedly showing an interest in the reporter. After all, they will need to expand their NBA influence once the new $77 billion NBA media-rights deal goes into effect. Therefore, the question may soon change to ‘Whether Charania will join ESPN?’ to ‘Can the network make him an offer he cannot refuse?’

Not everyone is willing to endorse Shams Charania’s rise so quickly. Another individual went on to draw a comparison between him and his reportedly former mentor, by stating, “Woj has been retired for barely a week and we’ve already got trades being leaked with incomplete information.”

This remark was based on the additional update that Charania had added after his official breaking news tweet about Towns’ trade. It confirmed that the Timberwolves player will be sent to the Knicks in exchange for a package deal involving Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The gap between the two tweets was just of 2 minutes. However, if fans of Woj know something about him, it is that he adds the complete information, i.e. which player is getting traded and for whom, in a single tweet. Though it may not be something that many fans would care so much about, Charania may have to make a change for that particular follower.

One social media user made use of a hilarious ‘Woj Bomb’ GIF and wrote “Not seeing a woj bomb is such a sad and weird feeling.” This was a reply to a tweet which had another fan speculating that the 55-year-old was probably in his home, going “‘GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE! YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THE WORLD NEEDS ME.’”

Things may not be so dire as the commentor may be making it out, since it was Wojnarowski’s intention to get away from the pressure. In his statement, he had revealed that “I understand the commitment required in my role, and it’s an investment that I’m no longer driven to make.” When covering the retirement announcement, sports writer Adam Schefter resonated with the reasoning, writing “It takes over your life. You can’t kind of do the job, you have to live the job, and he was done living the job.” While there was a time when Woj certainly relished in his role, the passing years may have shown him that there is more to life than it.

The update from the official X handle of ‘ESPN Australia & NZ’ regarding Karl-Anthony Towns came 29 minutes after ‘The Athletic’ reporter broke the news. With ESPN somewhat faltering in the aftermath of one of their key reporter’s exit, another individual just had to state “Not gonna lie already missing the Woj Bomb.” With Adrian Wojnarowski’s exit still being fresh, it will take some time for fans to adjust. Even if they do, it remains to be seen whether everyone would be willing to warm up to Shams Charania or not.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.