The Athletic and ESPN have completed a nonlinear switcheroo of Warriors beat writers.
Former ESPN NBA reporter Nick Friedell will join The Athletic to cover the Warriors, sources told Front Office Sports. Friedell will start at the New York Times–owned outlet at the end of September, when his ESPN contract officially expires. Friedell declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for The Athletic.
Earlier this summer, FOS first reported that Anthony Slater was joining ESPN as a national reporter with an emphasis on the Warriors.
Friedell primarily covered the Bulls, Warriors, and Nets at ESPN, and appeared regularly on studio shows including NBA Today, Get Up, and SportsCenter. He came up at ESPN through its Chicago pipeline at a time when it had satellite city sites, and was also a fixture on the ESPN 1000 radio station in Chicago.
Friedell was laid off from ESPN during the summer of 2023. It was a round of cuts in which 20 front-facing talents were let go, including Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Suzy Kolber, Max Kellerman, and Steve Young.
Sources said Friedell has spent more than two years collecting a paycheck worth several hundred thousand dollars annually.
The Bay Area has historically been a stronghold for The Athletic, as reporters including Tim Kawakami, Ethan Strauss, Marcus Thompson, and Slater drove thousands of subscriptions in the outlet’s early years. Thompson remains with The Athletic as a columnist focused on the NBA and the Bay Area.
The Warriors have maintained national relevance despite no longer being an annual title contender, as Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and coach Steve Kerr remain from the team that won four NBA championships in eight years. The team acquired Jimmy Butler earlier this year and signed him to a two-year, $121 million contract extension in an effort to make one last run.
