ESPN's most prominent basketball reporter has been suspended for a two-word vulgar email reply to the office of a United States senator on Friday morning in response to the senator's critical statements about the NBA's relationship with China.
The reporter, Adrian Wojnarowski, sent the email to the office of Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, who posted a screenshot of it on Twitter.
The suspension, which was confirmed by someone close to Wojnarowski, means he will not be traveling this week to report on the NBA's resumed season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Florida. On a recent podcast episode, Wojnarowski said he had sent a number of packages to the Orlando area in advance of his planned arrival on Sunday.
Hours after sending the email, Wojnarowski apologized, saying he was "disrespectful" and "made a regrettable mistake." ESPN called his email "inexcusable" and said it would address it with him internally. A spokesman declined to comment on the suspension.
The Washington Post reported the suspension would be from one to two weeks.
Wojnarowski was responding to an email sent by Hawley's press office to a number of journalists, criticizing the NBA for "kowtowing to Beijing" and its decision to allow players to wear social justice messages on their jerseys during the coming restart of the NBA season in Florida.
The list of acceptable messages, which was agreed to by the NBA and the union representing the players, includes "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe." None reference last year's widespread protests in Hong Kong or China's increasing grip on the city.
The matter called into question Wojnarowski's distance from a league he covers and appeared to be defending. Hawley has been known to selectively criticize the NBA's relationship with China.
The NBA has been a frequent target for many Republicans since the league's rift with China began before the season started. Several castigated the NBA — accusing the league of not firmly standing behind Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets' general manager, who posted an image on Twitter that was supportive of the pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters in October. This incensed the Chinese government, which has since limited its business with the NBA.
After Wojnarowski's tweet, conservative critics like the sports blogger Clay Travis pounced. Travis sarcastically tweeted about ESPN's "left-wing bias," and Hawley reshared that tweet with his followers. Travis's site, Outkick, later was first to report about Wojnarowski's suspension.
For years, conservative critics, and often some competitors, have accused ESPN of liberal bias and claimed, with little evidence, that it has resulted in lower ratings. Still, Jimmy Pitaro, who became ESPN's president in 2018, has sought to steer the network in a direction that focuses more on what happens on the field. In the last few months, that position has been challenged, as there have been few sports to cover because of the coronavirus pandemic and as athletes have spoken out about racism in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in police custody.
