Like any league, the NBA is built on its rivalries.
The Lakers vs. the Celtics.
LeBron vs. Steph.
Woj vs. Shams.
On Tuesday, we got the latest installment of the latter, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski’s overnight report that the Los Angeles Clippers had acquired James Harden in a blockbuster trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. Woj’s initial report came at 2:01 a.m. ET — a whopping 39 minutes before The Athletic’s Shams Charania posted his own report.
BREAKING: The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed on a trade to send guard James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/wAyuJKMfAw
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2023
BREAKING: The Philadelphia 76ers are trading James Harden and PJ Tucker to the Los Angeles Clippers for Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris, Robert Covington and KJ Martin, and draft picks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. pic.twitter.com/4gwGJgrYUb
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 31, 2023
As has become customary since the Woj-Shams rivalry first began following Wojnarowski’s departure from Yahoo — where he worked alongside Charania — in 2017, many on social media were quick to question how Wojnarowski managed to beat his former pupil to the story by nearly a full 40 minutes.
Woj got me questioning how much Shams really loves the game.
— Colb (@___Colb___) October 31, 2023
Shams was having nightmares about Woj breaking moves before him and woke up to Woj breaking the harden deal. Tough business
— kyle (@knicks_tape99) October 31, 2023
The reason Shams didn’t break the James Harden trade news last night. pic.twitter.com/bXFBX5elxY
— Ricky Chu (@RikDaddy) October 31, 2023
https://twitter.com/JackMacCFB/status/1719234586759119245
https://twitter.com/yungsallick/status/1719237710643167589
Someone, wake Shams up. He’s sleeping on the job
— Mireya (@__Miri__) October 31, 2023
u rn pic.twitter.com/wxnlzp61AU
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) October 31, 2023
Obviously, all of this is ridiculous (although the memes inspired by Charania’s flirtatious relationship with Kay Adams are admittedly pretty funny).
While there’s certainly value in establishing yourself as a news breaker, it’s safe to say that both Wojnarowski and Charania are well past that point. Even if some have taken issue with the ways in which they each obtain and disseminate their news, it’s rare that an NBA-related story is broken by someone other than one of them, usually within minutes (if not seconds) of the other having his own report.
If not for the memorable memes, nobody would remember in two weeks, let alone two years, whether Wojnarowski or Shams broke this particular story. Save for a few exceptions — like LeBron James announcing his free agency decision on national television or in an essay in Sports Illustrated — hardly anyone remembers who’s broken which NBA story over the years.
Had Charania actually been sleeping — which is doubtful — when Wojnarowski broke the news of the Harden trade, it would have been totally OK. In a weird way, it’s actually a credit to him that people were ready to send a search party after Wojnarowski beat him to the Harden trade by a matter of minutes.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.