Sports journalists can collect a lot of detritus: old ID cards, press credentials to get into big games, phones that stop working or become obsolete. Most of it winds up in the trash, unvalued and worthless.
Unless it belongs to Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski, the basketball news-breaker who recently retired from ESPN, is auctioning his castoff items to benefit the men’s basketball program at St. Bonaventure University, where he now works as the team’s general manager.
Want the credential that got Woj, as he has long been known, into the 2023 N.B.A. draft? As of Thursday morning, the bidding was at $900. His ID badge for ESPN? That’s at $2,000 (and no, you can’t use it to actually get into the network’s headquarters).
But the likely stars of the auction are the smartphones that buzzed in Wojnarowski’s pockets at all hours with texts and calls from N.B.A. owners, agents, coaches or others offering coveted scoops. The iPhone that was used to break the news of the huge Paul George trade in 2019 is at $1,500, while a different phone that he used to report the 2023 N.B.A. draft lottery is at $900.
Dinner with Wojnarowski and a video call from him are also available. Bidding closes next Tuesday.
Wojnarowski did not immediately respond to a request for comment through the university.
Wojnarowski transcended the relative anonymity of most sports scribblers by virtue of his hustle and connections often landing him N.B.A. stories before anyone else. When he reported big, unexpected news, it was known as a “Woj Bomb.”
He also made aggressive use of social media, communicating his scoops quickly, briefly and directly rather than through the traditional process of writing a full-length article for publication. That made his name much more recognizable to the average fan than most other sportswriters from outlets like The Associated Press, Bleacher Report or, well, The New York Times.
His style of reporting influenced many others in the field, and other sports news outlets sought to find and develop scoop-breakers of their own.
His final Woj Bomb was the surprise announcement that he was stepping down from ESPN to become general manager of the men’s basketball team at the relatively unheralded program at St. Bonaventure, his alma mater in southwestern New York.
Wojnarowski was paid $7.3 million a year by ESPN; reports said that he was making 1 percent of that at St. Bonaventure.
Fund-raising for college teams has become even more important since 2021, when the N.C.A.A. eased its strict amateurism rules. Athletes can now make money through the use of their name, image and likeness in advertisements, video games or other promotions.
As a relatively small school in the N.C.A.A.’s top division, St. Bonaventure lost several key players to larger schools in the aftermath of that rule change as they sought greater potential to make money.
As general manager, Wojnarowski’s job includes coordinating name, image and likeness payments, and also finding ways to increase the available funds and thereby attract even better players. By auctioning some of the contents of Woj’s desk, a small school like St. Bonaventure may have found a way to try to compete.
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