ESPN
You don’t pursue a career as an NBA insider if you’re the kind of person who cares about striking a work-life balance, as people in that line of work are committed to their job to an almost crippling degree. Now, we have some insight into just how far they’re willing to go for a scoop courtesy of Adrian Wojnarowski.
The NBA rumor mill is primarily operated by Adrian Wojnarowski and his archrival Shams Chariana, who have spent years attempting to beat the other man to the punch when it comes to announcing a trade, signing, or some other notable development in the basketball world.
Earlier this month, the latter shed some light on an exhausting existence that requires him to be glued to his phone for 18 hours a day and forced him to swear off playing pickup basketball for six months because he missed out on the chance to break a story while competing in a game.
The man known as “Woj” goes to similarly great lengths to stay ahead of the competition, and early Tuesday morning, he added another W to the column when he became the first person to report the 76ers had agreed to trade James Harden to the Clippers (he posted the news at 2:01 A.M.—exactly 39 minutes before Shams tried to make up lost ground with some additional details his foe had posted right before he hit “Send”).
On Tuesday, Wojnarowski revealed that the initial tweet was the end result of a lengthy saga that began when he was advised against boarding a flight to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon based on what was unfolding behind the scenes, and he ultimately spent half a day at an airport before it all came together.
Here’s what he had to say while discussing the series of events on The Woj Pod (the segment in question kicks off around the 5:15 mark):
“I was at Newark airport. I was getting ready to fly to L.A. to be with our NBA Countdown crew this week.
It was suggested to me to not get on a plane; it’s always my worst fear with this job is you’re on a plane and the wireless is spotty and you can’t get to what you need to do.
I sat in Newark airport, watched the place close down and almost start to open again. At 5 P.M. they threw me out of the United Lounge. At around 10:30 P.M., when [the airport] closed, I just went and sat downstairs [until the trade broke].
I left around 3:30 in the morning, came home, took a shower, and maybe I’ll try to get on a flight later tonight.
That seems to be how the Clippers and Sixers work together: late into the night.”
Say what you will about Wojnarowski, but you have to admit the man is dedicated to his craft.