Michael Wilbon says he’d consider continuing ‘PTI’ with Frank Isola if Tony Kornheiser retires

For nearly a quarter century, Pardon the Interruption has endured on the strength of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, weathering even a pandemic that exiled Kornheiser from the Washington studio for more than three years, until his triumphant in-person return in December 2023.

While the 77-year-old Kornheiser’s in-studio appearances have become few and far between, the dynamic duo still shares the desk more often than not. And while the prevailing expectation remains that ESPN will let them continue the show for as long as they wish, there exists a world where it carries on without one of them, and Wilbon offered a glimpse of exactly what that world would look like during a recent appearance on the Awful Announcing Podcast.

“We do, because we do,” Wilbon said when asked whether he could imagine doing the show with someone else. “With substitutes all along the whole 24 years. Could I see doing a show with Frank Isola, who I do the show mostly with now when Tony’s out? Yeah, I could do that. And I think Frank is like Tony and me, and I say that as a point of inclusion, not for anybody to read anything into it. PTI is Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon. That’s what PTI is. But Frank is like the last of the Mohicans.”

In the same breath, Wilbon argued ESPN has flattened the industry into single-sport specialists, pointing to Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski as examples of reporters more than capable of covering everything, not just the one beat each has become known for. He blamed ESPN for that narrowing, saying the network turned coverage into a nonstop, transactional grind focused on one sport at a time.

Wilbon said he personally refuses to play along, adding that he doesn’t care about the Dallas Cowboys or Aaron Rodgers 365 days a year, and that there’s plenty else worth covering. Isola, in his eyes, is one of the last people left who still does exactly that.

“Frank Isola is one of the few people left who can speak to it all, who goes to a World Cup game on a Thursday and maybe an NFL training camp on Friday,” Wilbon said. “That’s what we all did. ESPN killed that.”

That versatility is why Isola has become such a trusted PTI fill-in. He’s appeared on the show often enough that he’s said he can’t recall ever declining an invitation.

“They know they can rely on me,” he told AA’s Michael Grant, “so when Tony Kornheiser takes off, I’m with Wilbon. If Wilbon takes off, it’s Pablo Torre. And if Pablo can’t do it, they’ll sometimes ask other people or me. It’s a fun show because the producers have a newspaper-type mindset. Obviously, I think that has a lot to do with Mike and Tony.”

Whatever shape PTI ultimately takes, whether in its current form or in whatever configuration Wilbon just sketched out, the answer still runs through Mike and Tony themselves. Neither man has offered ESPN or its viewers anything resembling a firm timeline for how much longer they intend to keep doing this, but Wilbon has at least put thought into who could eventually replace the man 10 years his senior, whenever that day actually comes.