With the start of the 2024-25 NBA season just weeks away, changes are coming to ESPN’s Victor Wembanyama beat.
Taking to X, NBA reporter Andrew Lopez announced that Monday will be his final day at at the network. Lopez said that the decision to leave the Worldwide Leader was his to make and teased an announcement regarding his future plans.
“This is my choice. More on that later,” he wrote. “Five years ago, I was at a crossroads in my professional career. My newspaper was bought out. It wasn’t clear what was next. ESPN took a chance and we had one hell of a ride.
“As I said when I first got the job, joining ESPN was a dream of mine since I was 8 or 9 years old. It’s hard to walk away from that, but I’m excited for what’s next… I’m forever grateful for everything I’ve done and been able to do with ESPN. Now, new challenges, new opportunities and new dreams are ahead of me. And I cannot wait.”
Personal news: pic.twitter.com/2z0r6npWQk
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) September 30, 2024
As Lopez alluded to, he first arrived in ESPN in 2019 after he was laid off by The Times-Picayune following its merger with The New Orleans Advocate. He was quickly hired by the Worldwide Leader to continue his coverage of the New Orleans Pelicans, who had just selected Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick of the NBA Draft.
Lopez proceeded to cover the ups and downs of the first four seasons of Williamson’s NBA career, while also expanding his coverage to other teams across the league. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, he shifted from the Pelicans beat to cover a new league phenom in the form of Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
While it remains unclear what’s next for Lopez, it appears that ESPN already has plans in place to replace him. According to the New York Post‘s Ryan Glasspiegel, the network has re-hired Michael C. Wright, who previously covered the NBA and NFL for ESPN, to cover the Spurs and their reigning Rookie of the Year.
