Adrian Wojnarowski officially returned to chasing down “Woj bombs” on Friday, which is when the longtime ESPN reporter’s two-week suspension ended. Now that he has had plenty of time to think about what led to the disciplinary action, Wojnarowski says he still very much regrets what he did.
Wojnarowski was suspended by ESPN after he wrote “F— you” in an email to a U.S. senator from his work email account. Wojnarowski told Andrew Marchand of the New York Post that he wishes he had not sent the email.
“I regretted sending that email,” Wojnarowski said. “I have not made a habit of doing that, but I sent that one and I regret it. … I can’t send an email like that to a senator or anybody in my position at ESPN. That’s not a way I can express myself or should express myself to anyone.”
Woj said he respected ESPN’s decision to suspend him and that he gave the network “no choice.” When asked about receiving support from NBA stars like LeBron James, Wojnarowski said he would prefer to break news stories than become one.
“I’m far more comfortable reporting the news, trying to break the news than being the news,” he said. “I take pride in always letting the story be the news and letting the league be the news. My action caused me to be the news and I regret that.”
Wojnarowski’s vulgar message came in response to a letter Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent to the NBA and some reporters in which Hawley challenged the league’s relationship with China, among other things. Woj said the NBA’s relationship with China is an “ongoing story” that he has covered and will continue to cover. However, he vowed to never put himself in that kind of position again by letting his emotions get the best of him.
While some wondered if ESPN would fire Wojnarowski over the email, that has never been a consideration. ESPN’s executive vice president of content Connor Schell told Marchand that Woj is a “trusted NBA newsbreaker” who made a mistake and apologized for it.
