Zach Lowe out at ESPN

[zimpy27]

So Windhorst is now the best analyst on ESPN for NBA.

Hope to see Lowe on Amazon

[AleksandarN]

So Windhorst is now the best analyst on ESPN for NBA.

Hope to see Lowe on Amazon

Tim Legler doesn’t exist?

[NBA4Lyfe]

good riddance

[NBA4Lyfe]

So Windhorst is now the best analyst on ESPN for NBA.

Hope to see Lowe on Amazon

Tim Legler doesn’t exist?

legler is biased, he showed his true colors last yeaer during this playoffs was hiding aftr harden kept destroying luka and locking luka up

magically appeared before game 6 lol... dude is no different by ben taylor, yea he says some things that are true.. but the bias they have for harden is apparent

[AussieCeltic]

It boggles the mind that Kendrick Perkins and Steven A have jobs and he doesn’t.

Ringer about to go from KOC to Lowe. Will be like the Warriors going from Harrison Barnes to KD

[Doctor MJ]

I don’t think you can enforce a non-compete clause if you fire someone.

I think what ESPN's done in the past is offered a big fat check for the talent they let go to not do anything for a year likely with the hope that they'll never be able to regain stature after such time out of the spotlight.

Were I Lowe, I wouldn't take that deal.

I don’t know, if someone paid me a big fat check to not work for a year and spend time with my family, that would be pretty tempting.

For many jobs it would be an easy "Yes", but a year creating no content will likely reduce the offers he gets if he only gets back into things then. Might his stature be sufficient for him to be fine? Sure, but it's easy to fall of the map in his field.

[KGDirkTD_Fan]

This sucks but probably makes business sense.

ESPN thinks having basketball broadcasts tailored around absurd player comparisons and gambling will do better than basketball broadcasts that feature serious team and player analysis. They are likely correct but it sucks.

This is probably more true than people want to believe. I think these guys like woj and zach are great but it's one thing to get paid at ESPN and another to go out in the market and try to organically run your own advertising/subscription supported NBA media models. If they can get to 50% of their salary to go independent I'm sure they would have done it already.

[Doctor MJ]

So Windhorst is now the best analyst on ESPN for NBA.

Hope to see Lowe on Amazon

Dark times at ESPN, but not quite that dark. He's not the best analyst on his own podcast.

I do hope to be reading/hearing/seeing Lowe somewhere prominent next season.

[AleksandarN]

So Windhorst is now the best analyst on ESPN for NBA.

Hope to see Lowe on Amazon

Tim Legler doesn’t exist?

legler is biased, he showed his true colors last yeaer during this playoffs was hiding aftr harden kept destroying luka and locking luka up

magically appeared before game 6 lol... dude is no different by ben taylor, yea he says some things that are true.. but the bias they have for harden is apparent

Lol

[Repeat 3-peat]

NBA media is a mess.

[Mavrelous]

So Windhorst is now the best analyst on ESPN for NBA.

Hope to see Lowe on Amazon

Windhorst is an insider, he really doesn't provide much analysis, Bontemps is the analytics guy.
Didn't think of the Amazon angle, that's interesting...

[One_and_Done]

So Windhorst is now the best analyst on ESPN for NBA.

Hope to see Lowe on Amazon

Windbag is terrible. He's 3rd best on his own podcast, behind McMahon and especially Bontemps.

[andyhop]

The ringer or Substack?

The Athletic maybe

With how badly the Athletic has been losing talent lately I'd be doubtful. But he would be more suitable there than ESPN where its a TV product that he isn't great at.

[durden_tyler]

What's left to read at ESPN now? Barnwell for NFL and no one else now right?

[Mr Peanut]

Could be a blessing in disguise, where Lowe can find a platform where he doesn't have to dumb down his analysis or talk about the Lakers all the time.

Big L for ESPN though.

[Scalabrine]

This is CRAZY news. I'm shocked. For non-click bait, Zach Lowe is basically the most popular basketball journalist.

If he stays in the basketball journalism/analysis space, this could be exciting. A version of his podcast where he's no longer obligated to interview the same boring ESPN employees anymore (McNenamin is who I'm thinking of specifically). Overall, Lowe's content changed over time to become more suitable for ESPN, and the quality of his analysis was lessened by the requirement to meet ESPN pundits halfway, and talk about the Lakers no matter what.

Not sure who can pay him what ESPN was paying him though, so I'm sorry for him losing that bag. He can work basically wherever he wants, but I hope he goes somewhere where he can bring elevated content.

I agree with you on McMenamin. He's neither entertaining nor insightful, and I never heard him make an interesting point on basketball. He's exceptionally mediocre.

He just feels like a random guy that has been assigned to be around the Lakers. He has some information about the Lakers because it's his job, and his job provides him with access to the Lakers. Lol. He seems to only have a basic comprehension of the sport, and almost sounds stressed whenever anyone it talking in depth about it because any depth is out of his depth. He also doesn't seem to know ANYTHING about non-Laker players/teams. I get his job is the Lakers, but you think just by accident you'd absorb some knowledge about the sport of the league by being around this long.

He's married to Malika Andrews, who is pretty good. Must just be some nepotism.

[Teen Girl Squad]

What's left to read at ESPN now? Barnwell for NFL and no one else now right?

They just hired Ben Solak who's young but does great NFL content but thats about it. I like Mina quite a bit but she doesn't really add much. She knows ball but doesn't have quite the value add on top. Unfortunately the market for quality NBA coverage is a tiny fraction of the NFL (and even the NFL's is smaller than you'd think, see Pat McAfee).

[Ssj16]

After Max Kellerman was kicked off of First Take I stopped going to ESPN for my basketball content. For me, The Ringer and sometimes The Starters would fill the void for me as far as basketball is concerned.

But my very unpopular opinion is that, even tho I'm sad Zach lost his job, I never really tuned into him, he was a little too milquetoast for my liking.

[cupcakesnake]

I agree with you on McMenamin. He's neither entertaining nor insightful, and I never heard him make an interesting point on basketball. He's exceptionally mediocre.

He just feels like a random guy that has been assigned to be around the Lakers. He has some information about the Lakers because it's his job, and his job provides him with access to the Lakers. Lol. He seems to only have a basic comprehension of the sport, and almost sounds stressed whenever anyone it talking in depth about it because any depth is out of his depth. He also doesn't seem to know ANYTHING about non-Laker players/teams. I get his job is the Lakers, but you think just by accident you'd absorb some knowledge about the sport of the league by being around this long.

He's married to Malika Andrews, who is pretty good. Must just be some nepotism.

I think they only recently got married though, no?

[p0peye]

I watch more podcasts than ESPN anyway. This may also explain why Zach was acting more like Stephen A. lately, trying to keep the job.