The NBA’s new media rights deal has sparked a major shift in the basketball landscape. Higher salary cap, unprecedented contracts, and expansion talks, it’s all going down. Even the broadcasting space is feeling the impact, as the availability of new opportunities has led to fresh negotiations and abrupt departures. This major revamp has left ESPN in a tough spot, as it has lost its talent to competitors. Unfortunately for them, another big name has decided to part ways – Jonathan Givony!

Making the shocking announcement on X, Givony wrote, “My time at ESPN has come to an end. Thanks to everyone, past and present, who helped me grow professionally the past 8 years.” Jonathan Givony joined the network in 2017 and gradually became one of the most renowned NBA draft analysts. Turns out, ESPN tried to retain Givony by offering him an extension, but the analyst claims they were unable to find alignment on his value to the company. Translation: Givony wasn’t going to get paid enough by ESPN.

While Jonathan’s ESPN tenure might be over, he will “continue to analyze the NBA Draft, college, high school, and international basketball” like he has for the past two decades. Only now, it will be at the company he founded, DraftExpress. Even during his time at ESPN, Givony continued to run the company as a database for basketball teams across the globe. His expertise on International basketball and connection overseas were major reasons fans loved his draft analysis.

Even after leaving ESPN, Givony’s passion for European hoops remains intact, as he announced his upcoming trip in his farewell message, “See you at the U18 European Championship in Belgrade this weekend!” But while the veteran analyst is looking forward to this new chapter, his supporters are not pleased with ESPN letting him go.

Kendrick Perkins catches strays as NBA World slams ESPN after Jonathan Givony’s departure

As expected, the hoop community was shocked to know about Givony’s departure from ESPN, and that too because of failed negotiations. Soon after his announcement, fans started blaming the network for “fumbling” their talent. Comments like “One of the goats man best of luck, ESPN is missing out” and “ESPN is just fumbling away talent and that’s unfortunate” began flooding in.

Many netizens also claimed that parting ways with experts like Givony is one of the major reasons ESPN’s coverage quality has taken a hit: “this is why ESPN continues to become a worse product.” Fans’ frustration led to the network’s current employees becoming an easy target: “Letting Givony go but paying Kendrick Perkins millions, do better @ESPN.”

Well, ESPN has recently shifted to hiring more retired players as analysts. But not everyone resonates with Perkins’ style because of his hot takes and frequent debates with co-panellists, which led to the former Celtics star catching strays amid Givony’s departure.

Amid criticizing ESPN, fans and peers also showed support for Jonathan Givony. Veteran insider Kevin O’Connor wrote, “Wishing you all the best Jonathan. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for DX moving forward.” And another fan wrote, “Good for you man know your worth.  Will follow you wherever you put out content.”

Now that Givony is no longer tied to ESPN, he can focus strictly on building DraftExpress. Meanwhile, ESPN is at risk of losing more talent. Turns out, veteran announcer Doris Burke’s future is also uncertain as reports of her potential demotion from the NBA Finals broadcast team have emerged. At this rate, it will not be long before ESPN loses its top talent and its fan base to other competitors.