As he heads into a pivotal stretch of his media career, longtime NBA insider Shams Charania’s “has decided to leave Stadium after six years with the outlet,” per The Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel.
The end of Charania’s deals with The Athletic and FanDuel TV is “also coming up,” with The Post reporting in mid-July that they were set to expire “in the next month or two.” If accurate, Charania could become a free agent right before the offseason ends. However, “it remains up in the air as to whether he will stay at either or both as his contract negotiations continue…”
Per NBA.com, Oct. 22 officially marks the start of the 2024-25 season.
Popular NBA Insider Shams Charania Heading Into Media Free Agency
Now 30 years old, Charania has become a fixture in the NBA media space.
The Chicago native began his journalism career in late 2010, writing for ChicagoNow, a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune. Less than two years later, he earned a role as an NBA writer for RealGM, reporting on league transactions. At this time, he worked briefly as a nursing unit concierge for Northshore University Health System.
Charania got his big break in 2015 upon being discovered by Adrian Wojnarowski. At the time, Wojnarowski was employed by Yahoo Sports. The two would enjoy friendly competition in the insider space, Charania breaking news on myriad high-profile signings. After three years, he announced that he would be joining The Athletic and Stadium as the lead senior NBA insider.
I am excited to announce I am joining The Athletic (@theathletic) and Stadium (@watchstadium) as the lead senior NBA Insider/Writer and Analyst later this month… https://t.co/gHYh8Ihzb7
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 14, 2018
Until accepting a role as a FanDuel TV partner in Oct. 2022, those are the only roles he’s held since then.
Now, he’s not only one of the most recognizable figures in the media, but The Athletic and Stadium are as well. The Athletic is particularly favored, emerging as a premier digital sports journalism publication. They’re even giving ESPN, long considered to be —literally and figuratively —‘the worldwide leader in sports’ a run for their money. Had ESPN not hired Wojnarowski in 2017, it’s possible that they would be the go-to source of NBA reporting.
All of that being said, wherever Charania heads next, his employers can expect a healthy return on investment.
Conflict Of Interest
An interesting aspect of Charania’s potential free agency is that he’s been criticized for being an NBA insider while being paid by FanDuel, an online gambling company. Particularly with the rising popularity of sports betting, this has been deemed a potential conflict of interest. Of course, just because Charania works with them doesn’t mean he’s violating any journalistic ethics. Nonetheless, it’s an argument that won’t disappear so long as that relationship exists.
