Zach Lowe out at ESPN

[Bad Bart]

For all the praise he receives, he isn't very edifying.

Agreed, never struck me as a real basketball guy and provided obvious opinions.

[TinmanZBoy]

Ridiculous decision, one of the few members of their NBA coverage that brings value yet they keep a guy like Perkins who is a walking, talking prop essentially. Sad but unsurprising.

this world is not for deep thinkers or knowledgeables... it is a clown show, starring Steve A, Malika Andrews etc...
it makes too much sense

[schaffy]

For all the praise he receives, he isn't very edifying.

Agreed, never struck me as a real basketball guy and provided obvious opinions.

I think if your exposure to him was NBA Today (or whatever its called now, The Jump was the previous iteration) thats a fair takeaway. But that entire show model was based on going in a circle of 3-4 people to give a bunch of surface level opinions on something and then on to the next topic. No one had time to give any opinion that wasnt obvious.

His writing and podcast provided a lot more in depth thoughts and analysis, and he got some other pretty decent basketball guys on his podcase too where they shared more nuanced opinions.

[Infinite Llamas]

My god I loathe espn

[The-Stallion70]

ESPN Wokecenter

[miamiheat319]

Ok espn, I’ll take the job

[Jamaaliver]

Why would ESPN dump their top NBA Analyst three weeks before the NBA season starts?

Did Woj see the writing on the wall and get out before he got canned?

[LarsV8]

No Woj, no Zach Lowe... no reason to ever check ESPN again. Really wish TNT had taken their package too.

This, WOJ and Lowe were the only real assets that ESPN offered, if you were interested in anything more than worthless hot takes.

[R-DAWG]

Lowes podcast is great - a little basketball nerdy but an easy and enjoyable listen. Lowes articles are wayyyyyyyyy too long to read. He will have a new platform soon and not much will change in how we get his content. He's got a great following among the basketball purists but a little too nerdy for the average fan.

The exodus of basketball talent from ESPN over the past 15 months has been astounding. First breaking up the Van Gundy/Jackson/Breen booth - which was as good as it got in sports. Then Woj leaving - which ESPN couldn't control as it clearly wasn't a money driven decision. Now Lowe. The worldwide leader in letting NBA talent walk out the door.

You have to wonder if the league had any reason to force ESPN's hand re: Lowe the way the NFL did re: Bill Simmons

[LockoutSeason]

So ESPN has lost JVG, Woj, and Lowe all in the past 11 months. But they re-signed Stephen A Smith.

Awesome.

[cupcakesnake]

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.

[Jellybeans]

LOL Woj retired and then they fire Lowe but Perkins and other clowns keep their job

[SK21209]

The ringer or Substack?

My guess is he has a no-compete clause but McShay works around that and goes on Russillo's pod every week. Wouldn't be shocked if Bill devotes one pod a week with Lowe during the NBA season.

I hope this is what happens, and I think it will. I still really like Lowe, but the last couple of years or so I’ve felt like his pod wasn’t quite what it was at the beginning of the decade/at the end of the last. He and Bill still play off each other really well so I hope we get more of that.

[TravisScott55]

Is the appetite for hot takes really that insatiable? Every day society gets more and more mindless.

[Rafael122]

The ringer or Substack?

My guess is he has a no-compete clause but McShay works around that and goes on Russillo's pod every week. Wouldn't be shocked if Bill devotes one pod a week with Lowe during the NBA season.

I hope this is what happens, and I think it will. I still really like Lowe, but the last couple of years or so I’ve felt like his pod wasn’t quite what it was at the beginning of the decade/at the end of the last. He and Bill still play off each other really well so I hope we get more of that.

The issue I had with his pod is that he only brings in ESPN-adjacent talent. He'll bring in a beat reporter here and there, but it was usually Pelton, Marks, etc on the show.

[SK21209]

My guess is he has a no-compete clause but McShay works around that and goes on Russillo's pod every week. Wouldn't be shocked if Bill devotes one pod a week with Lowe during the NBA season.

I hope this is what happens, and I think it will. I still really like Lowe, but the last couple of years or so I’ve felt like his pod wasn’t quite what it was at the beginning of the decade/at the end of the last. He and Bill still play off each other really well so I hope we get more of that.

The issue I had with his pod is that he only brings in ESPN-adjacent talent. He'll bring in a beat reporter here and there, but it was usually Pelton, Marks, etc on the show.

Yup, the quality of his guests had declined too. Way too much Marks and Bontemps.

[Jadoogar]

Hard news is more expensive and generates less revenue

All of live TV is moving to the Fox News model of opining on the news instead of breaking the news

yup, there's a reason they kept Stephen A Smith around. It's not about quality, it's about views. Unfortunately, the public wants to watch garbage rather than good analysis.

[Pantsman]

Even more of a reason to not watch espn

[dhsilv2]

Lowes podcast is great - a little basketball nerdy but an easy and enjoyable listen. Lowes articles are wayyyyyyyyy too long to read. He will have a new platform soon and not much will change in how we get his content. He's got a great following among the basketball purists but a little too nerdy for the average fan.

The exodus of basketball talent from ESPN over the past 15 months has been astounding. First breaking up the Van Gundy/Jackson/Breen booth - which was as good as it got in sports. Then Woj leaving - which ESPN couldn't control as it clearly wasn't a money driven decision. Now Lowe. The worldwide leader in letting NBA talent walk out the door.

You have to wonder if the league had any reason to force ESPN's hand re: Lowe the way the NFL did re: Bill Simmons

Why would the NBA want to get rid of the only person who treated their product with any respect?

[AleksandarN]

The ringer or Substack?

The Athletic maybe

Allcity? I hope.