Things are not going well behind the scenes at ESPN.
Right before the season started ESPN laid off Sam Ponder and Robert Griffin III. Now with basketball season right around the corner, it looks like they’re readying themselves for more major departures.
According to Awful Announcing, NBA writer Zach Lowe is being laid off in the next round of layoffs at the sports network. This seems to be a budgetary issue, with Lowe commanding a salary over seven figures.
If these layoffs are actually being done for accounting reasons, they could spell serious trouble for the sports conglomerate.
What’s strange about Lowe’s layoff in particular is that he was featured on the network the day before his layoff was announced to preview the Los Angeles Lakers’ upcoming season.
Whether Lowe’s departure is due to money or not, he will be missed at ESPN, where he’s been since 2012. Lowe has been a prolific writer for the network and hosts a popular podcast, The Lowe Post.
Lowe isn’t the first basketball talent to leave the network either. NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski recently retired from the network to pursue a front-office role for the men’s basketball program at St. Bonaventure.
It’ll be interesting to see how ESPN handles its finances moving forward, especially with Stephen A Smith’s contract talks looming over the horizon.