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The Athletic has nabbed a top NBA beat writer.
Lakers reporter Dan Woike is joining the New York Times–owned sports outlet to cover the same beat, sources told Front Office Sports. A spokesperson for The Athletic declined to comment.
Woike announced Friday night he was leaving the Los Angeles Times, but did not reveal his destination. “I’ve been so fortunate to spend 8 years at one of the nation’s top newspapers and to learn and work with so many incredible people. I’ll be sharing what’s next soon, but I wanted to acknowledge how special the LAT has been to me,” Woike wrote on Twitter/X.
Woike will replace Lakers reporter Jovan Buha, who announced Friday that it was his final day at The Athletic after seven years. Buha said in his post that he will continue covering the Lakers via YouTube and his podcast.
Since the NY Times acquired The Athletic in 2022, the outlet has, in some cases, pivoted away from expansive local coverage to a more national lens, particularly in sports besides the NFL. However, the Lakers are a nationally relevant franchise and command their own beat.
The switch in beat writers comes at a pivotal time for the Lakers, as a group led by Dodgers owner Mark Walter announced its intent to purchase the team from Jeanie Buss and her five siblings at a sticker-shocking valuation of $10 billion this week. Luka Doncic is eligible for a four-year extension worth over $200 million this offseason, and there are questions about how much longer 40-year-old LeBron James will be around.
Earlier this month, FOS reported that Warriors and NBA writer Anthony Slater is leaving The Athletic for ESPN. It has not yet been announced what The Athletic plans to do to replace Slater’s coverage of Golden State, another franchise of national importance.
