Awful Announcing Podcast: Ramona Shelburne on Adrian Wojnarowski, Donald Sterling, Kobe Bryant, and more

Host Brandon Contes interviews ESPN NBA insider and senior writer Ramona Shelburne. Brandon and Ramona discuss a wide range of topics including her reaction to Adrian Wojnarowski’s retirement from sports media, getting to know Kobe Bryant and the emotion of covering his death, how different it is covering LeBron James compared to Kobe, being on the Donald Sterling story, and more.

Here’s the full breakdown:

• :46: Finding out when Adrian Wojnarowski retired
• 3:00: Conversation with Woj
• 6:39: Work-life balance/mental aspect of being an insider
• 11:00: Would Woj someday come back to media?
• 11:50: Could Woj still drop a “Woj bomb” even away from the job?
• 14:00: Recruiting Ramona to Yahoo
• 16:16: Woj joining ESPN and bringing the Yahoo team over
• 18:27: Changing the news breaking industry
• 23:40: Does journalism put too much emphasis on breaking news?
• 27:19: Would Ramona take on Woj’s role?
• 32:38: Lakers/Danny Hurley story
• 36:03: Being on the Donald Sterling story
• 44:14: Kobe Bryant
• 47:46 Could a pro athlete in 2024 be able to rebuild their image and reputation like Kobe was able to do after the sexual assault charge?
• 49:46: Kobe’s death
• 58:08: Covering the story as a journalist and as Kobe’s friend and seeing others in the media hastily report incorrect info
• 1:00:32: Covering LeBron James compared to Kobe
• 1:03:34: What is Ramona working toward?

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