Shams Charania has been crowned as ESPN's replacement for top insider Adrian Wojnarowski. But that doesn't mean the 30-year-old is getting paid the same as his predecessor.
News broke Monday that ESPN had hired Charania to become the company's new Senior NBA Insider.
While Charania will largely take on Wojnarowski's previous role as the NBA's primary news-breaker, Puck sports correspondent John Ourand has reported that Shams' new gig won't come with the same compensation.
Ourand stated on his "The Varsity" newsletter that while Charania's exact salary remains unknown, the buzz is that Shams will be making "less than half" of Woj's most recent annual salary. Wojnarowski was reportedly earning around $7 million per year before he retired from the NBA scoop game.
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ESPN reportedly considered a number of options to replace Wojnarowski, including promoting someone internally. But given how closely intertwined Wojnarowski and Charania were in the realm of NBA news, hiring the former The Athletic reporter clearly made the most sense.
Charania still has quite a ways to go before reaching Woj's salary figure. But given that Wojnarowski is about 25 years older than Shams, it's almost guaranteed that ESPN's newest hire will get there eventually.
Based on Wojnarowski's reaction to the Shams hiring, the top ESPN job also comes with much more than just a good paycheck.