Former ESPN NBA reporter Nick Friedell reportedly has a new job.
According to Ryan Glasspiegel at Front Office Sports, Friedell will join The Athletic to work on the Golden State Warriors beat.
Per FOS, Friedell will start with the company at the end of September when his ESPN contract officially ends. He was part of the massive round of layoffs the Worldwide Leader did in June 2023.
Friedell had been with ESPN since 2009. For almost a decade, he covered the Chicago Bulls, was a founding member of the ESPNChicago.com team, and was a regular contributor to ESPN Radio. Friedell relocated to the Bay Area in 2018 and had been covering the NBA nationally for ESPN until he was let go.
In 2002, he got into a heated exchange with then-Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving after the NBA star used his social media platform to amplify dangerous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and share a film with antisemitic disinformation. Many in the sports world rallied to Friedell’s defense for his ability to ask tough questions, maintain civility, and continue the attempt to get simple answers despite Irving’s obfuscations.
Somewhat ironically, Anthony Slater left The Athletic to join ESPN as a national reporter with a focus on the Warriors.
Friedell declined to comment to FOS about the position, as did a spokesperson for The Athletic.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.