Dianna Russini leaving ESPN to become The Athletic’s top NFL insider

Dianna Russini leaving ESPN to become The Athletic’s top NFL insider

Dianna Russini is leaving ESPN for The Athletic to be its top NFL insider, The Post has learned. Russini had been with ESPN for eight years as one of its main NFL reporters, appearing on all of its major NFL shows. ESPN offered a raise to stay, according to sources, but Russini chose to go … Read more

ESPN nearing deal to add ex-Warriors GM Bob Myers to NBA coverage

ESPN nearing deal to add ex-Warriors GM Bob Myers to NBA coverage

ESPN is close to adding a four-time NBA champion to its talent roster. The Post has learned that Bob Myers is nearing a deal to join “NBA Countdown” as an analyst. Myers, 48, was the general manager of the Warriors for their championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022, with the added title of president … Read more

New ESPN Radio lineup includes show with Chris Carlin, Joe Fortenbaugh

New ESPN Radio lineup includes show with Chris Carlin, Joe Fortenbaugh

Details continue to emerge about the latest iteration of ESPN Radio’s national lineup. The Post first reported Tuesday that the morning show of Chris Canty, Evan Cohen and Michelle Smallmon will be replacing the program previously fronted by Keyshawn, Jay Williams and Max Kellerman. Now, The Post has learned that Chris Carlin and Joe Fortenbaugh … Read more

Malika Andrews replacing Mike Greenberg as ESPN’s NBA Finals host

Malika Andrews replacing Mike Greenberg as ESPN’s NBA Finals host

The skyrocketing career of Malika Andrews continues as she is becoming the new host of the NBA Finals for ESPN, The Post has learned.  Andrews, 28, will succeed Mike Greenberg, who hosted the marquee shows for the past two years. Greenberg was brought in to stabilize “NBA Countdown” after the fiasco with Maria Taylor and … Read more

Dave Portnoy celebrated getting Barstool back with splashy purchase: ‘I love her’

Dave Portnoy celebrated getting Barstool back with splashy purchase: ‘I love her’

Dave Portnoy is back in the media spotlight and loving every minute of it. Following the deal to buy back Barstool Sports, he celebrated the occasion by appearing to purchase a horse. “I bought myself a present tonight. Goodnight,” Portnoy wrote on Twitter. The tweet was accompanied by a photo and a video of a … Read more

ESPN Radio sets new morning show lineup with Chris Canty, Evan Cohen and Michelle Smallmon

ESPN Radio sets new morning show lineup with Chris Canty, Evan Cohen and Michelle Smallmon

ESPN has their new morning team, The Post has learned. Giants Super Bowl champion Chris Canty will be joined by SiriusXM’s Evan Cohen and Michelle Smallmon on mornings with the hope that the new program begins by football season in a few weeks, according to sources. The trio replaces the combination of Keyshawn Johnson, Jay … Read more

Penn sells Barstool Sports back to Dave Portnoy to partner with ESPN

Penn sells Barstool Sports back to Dave Portnoy to partner with ESPN

Dave Portnoy is once again the owner of Barstool Sports. Penn Entertainment announced Tuesday that it is divesting the company back to Portnoy, who founded Barstool in 2003. In its release, Penn said it sold “100%” of Barstool to Portnoy “in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants” and the “right to receive 50% … Read more

Chris Russo mocks Stephen A. Smith’s beach pictures, push-up contest ensues

Chris Russo mocks Stephen A. Smith’s beach pictures, push-up contest ensues

Stephen A. Smith got called out on his own show.  Sports radio personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo went off on Smith about his weight during the “What are you mad about” segment on Wednesday’s “First Take” show.  “You know, Stevie? Here’s what I want you to do. We all saw the pictures. We all saw … Read more

‘Marchand and Ourand’ podcast Episode 98: The future of ESPN and the Pac-12 amid the cord cutting craze

‘Marchand and Ourand’ podcast Episode 98: The future of ESPN and the Pac-12 amid the cord cutting craze

Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discussed the Pac-12 media deal on this week’s podcast. Host Andrew Marchand broke all the news about ESPN’s new NBA booth next season and on this week’s podcast he explains why ESPN let go of Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. Host John Ourand broke news this week of NASCAR … Read more

Jason Whitlock has a problem with ESPN promoting Doris Burke

Jason Whitlock has a problem with ESPN promoting Doris Burke

Perennial pot-stirrer Jason Whitlock unsurprisingly ripped ESPN’s decision to remove Mark Jackson from its No. 1 NBA broadcast in favor of Doris Burke. “I absolutely love Doris Burke,” Whitlock said on his show “Fearless.” “She does a really good job, but she is not qualified to be the No. 1 broadcaster on the NBA.” The ex-ESPN … Read more

Mike Breen sad and stunned over Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson ESPN firings

Mike Breen sad and stunned over Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson ESPN firings

Mike Breen called 15 NBA Finals with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. The trio were synonymous with the sport’s biggest event. But ESPN decided to end the broadcast team by firing Van Gundy in late June and Jackson on Monday. This has left Breen stunned and disappointed. “It’s sad because we really thought we … Read more

Mark Jackson wishes new NBA crew ‘success’ in first comments since surprise ESPN layoff

Mark Jackson wishes new NBA crew ‘success’ in first comments since surprise ESPN layoff

Mark Jackson had nothing but love for ESPN in a statement hours after the network laid him off Monday.  The former NBA player and coach had been in his second stint at ESPN and this past season had been part of the broadcast team that called the NBA Finals. Jackson wrote he was let go … Read more

Kendrick Perkins tossed from AAU game and his ESPN colleagues loved it: ‘Blew off the gasket’

Kendrick Perkins tossed from AAU game and his ESPN colleagues loved it: ‘Blew off the gasket’

Kenrick Perkins “blew off the gasket” at an AAU basketball tournament and got himself kicked out over the weekend. And his “NBA Today” colleagues were more than happy to dig up the footage and air it on national television during Monday’s show.  Rumblings about it first appeared on Twitter, when Trae Young sent out a … Read more

Pat McAfee tries to explain Larry Nassar tweet after ‘all-out onslaught against me’

Pat McAfee tries to explain Larry Nassar tweet after ‘all-out onslaught against me’

Pat McAfee has clarified the thought process on his Larry Nassar tweet that drew backlash. Over the weekend, Evan Fox, a producer on “The Pat McAfee Show,” tweeted a photo of particularly ugly new Michigan State jerseys, and McAfee responded that “I think Nassar was in on the design team actually.” Nassar was a former … Read more

ESPN worried Jeff Van Gundy would leave TV to coach again before layoff

ESPN worried Jeff Van Gundy would leave TV to coach again before layoff

ESPN worried Jeff Van Gundy still had the coaching itch and could leave them high and dry. While the former Knicks coach shined as an NBA analyst for ESPN before being included in the company’s recent layoffs, top network executives worried Van Gundy could potentially leave his cushy television job to return to the sidelines, … Read more

Mark Jackson out at ESPN in NBA booth blowup

Mark Jackson out at ESPN in NBA booth blowup

Mark Jackson is out at ESPN, The Post has learned. ESPN analyst Mark Jackson in February 2023.Getty Images Jackson joins Jeff Van Gundy in being laid off by ESPN after the two had been Mike Breen’s co-analysts on the NBA Finals. They are expected to be replaced by Doris Burke and Doc Rivers. Source link … Read more

‘A lot of alcohol’ behind stripper video that got Paul Pierce fired by ESPN

‘A lot of alcohol’ behind stripper video that got Paul Pierce fired by ESPN

More than two years later, Paul Pierce’s firing from ESPN over a racy video continues to be a point of fascination. Pierce was conversing with Lance Armstrong on Fox’s “Stars on Mars” about how he got terminated by the network for going on Instagram and sharing a video involving strippers and poker. “I was at … Read more

Pat McAfee facing backlash after Larry Nassar, Michigan State tweet

Pat McAfee facing backlash after Larry Nassar, Michigan State tweet

Pat McAfee is facing criticism for a tweet he sent out — and then doubled down on — Sunday.  The sports commentator was replying to a tweet by Evan Fox, who is on “The Pat McAfee Show,” about alternate football jerseys for Michigan State. Clearly finding the uniforms ugly, McAfee responded by trying to joke … Read more

Allison Williams: I was ‘bullied, vilified’ after ESPN vaccine firing

Allison Williams: I was ‘bullied, vilified’ after ESPN vaccine firing

Former ESPN reporter Allison Williams testified in Congress on Thursday about losing her job at the network for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Williams was fired from ESPN in 2021, having cited fertility treatments as the reason she was avoiding the vaccine. She joined Fox Sports as a college football sideline reporter last year. … Read more

Shannon Sharpe mulls music career: ‘Things I want to get off my chest!’

Shannon Sharpe mulls music career: ‘Things I want to get off my chest!’

Shannon Sharpe has a backup plan in case the broadcasting thing doesn’t work out. “Pulled up to @djkhaled house and it’s safe to say I think I want to make music now,” the NFL Hall of Famer tweeted Thursday. “I told him to take me straight to the studio and cut a beat on. I … Read more