Pat McAfee has been in the corner of ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania since early in the newsbreaker’s career. And on Wednesday ahead of Charania’s first appearance on the network’s NBA Draft broadcast, McAfee went to bat for him once again.
The rant marked not only another instance of McAfee wielding his influence in Bristol in support of Charania, but also another instance of McAfee taking issue with the network’s NBA staff. It came as Charania’s reporting on the availability of NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo was called into question.
“Basically, and I know there’s potential suits watching this show in their offices somewhere, you didn’t want Shams to be your guy, OK? Shams is the guy. Everything he kind of predicted is happening, unfolding,” McAfee said on his show. “He gets very worried about [his reports], but the amount of work he’s putting in and has put in, the dude is on it. He’s on his sh*t.”
When Adrian Wojnarowski retired from ESPN last fall, McAfee lobbied aggressively, in public and reportedly in private, for the network to hire Charania as his replacement. McAfee got his wish, but apparently still feels as if Charania is not respected enough within the company.
That may be true, but it may also be that McAfee is allowing his personal gripes to rub off onto how he believes Charania is treated. After all, Charania has embedded quickly into nearly every facet of ESPN, from SportsCenter hits after breaking news to regular appearances on NBA Today and the network’s game broadcasts.
“The news-makers are the content creators in sports. And Shams has earned his stripes, even if you haven’t seen him,” McAfee said, seemingly still speaking directly to management. “He has earned his stripes in these internet streets, which is not easy. Shams has had to work at it, and it is hard in these streets.”
After Ty Schmit, a panelist on The Pat McAfee Show, piped in that he felt as if Charania had to “defend his reporting more than any insider,” McAfee concurred. And the host even went so far as to take a jab at Charania’s teammates on the NBA reporting staff, claiming that they have not defended him enough.
“Normally the insiders have, like, a team around them. And they come out and say, ‘We stand by him,'” McAfee explained. “I don’t think that was happening either. I don’t think that was really happening for ol’ Shams.”
It is difficult to surmise precisely which report McAfee believes ESPN left Charania high and dry on. But McAfee’s views on the ESPN NBA team seem clear.
Early this past season, McAfee went public on X with complaints about how difficult he found the company’s NBA commentators to work with. A supposed agreement with top studio analyst Kendrick Perkins fell apart quickly last year, and McAfee found his replacement in Quentin Richardson, a retired NBA sharpshooter who ESPN hired as an analyst in February.
However, if there has been tension between Charania and his new coworkers, it has not been public.