NBA insider Chris Haynes is departing TNT Sports and Bleacher Report, where he has worked for the past five years. The network is continuing its legal battle against the league over a failed bid to match an offer for broadcast rights.
According to Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, Haynes’ contract expires “shortly,” and he will depart TNT Sports and B/R and become a free agent.
Haynes worked as an NBA sideline reporter for TNT while writing and producing digital content for Bleacher Report, which TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery also owns. The former Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors beat reporter jumped to Yahoo in 2018, replacing Adrian Wojnarowski as the site’s NBA insider.
In 2022, he brought his news breaking to B/R thanks to a preexisting relationship with WBD as a sideline reporter on TNT’s television broadcasts.
Since early 2023, Haynes has cohosted the NBA podcast #ThisLeague Uncut alongside fellow veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein for iHeartMedia.
As an insider covering the juicy NBA, Haynes should have no shortage of options when it comes to digital video, television, or written content.
Still, he enters the marketplace as rival NBA scooper Shams Charania is also exploring new opportunities. Charania recently left the sports streaming network Stadium and signed on to contribute to the NBA 2K video game franchise.
With NBC and Amazon joining ESPN as NBA broadcast partners starting next fall, Haynes could fill a similar role for one of those platforms as he did at TNT or move to something entirely new.
Either way, TNT’s departure from NBA broadcasting is already creating ripple effects in the sports media landscape.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.