Shams Charania breaking Brittney Griner free agency news has NBA fans in splits: “What about Jimmy Butler?”

Shams Charania broker away from his usual NBA trade news to reveal Brittney Griner's move to another WNBA team.

Shams Charania breaking Brittney Griner free agency news has NBA fans in splits: “What about Jimmy Butler?”

Shams Charania broke the news about Brittney Griner's move to another WNBA team

After Adrian Wojnarowski left his job as an NBA Insider, Shams Charania has become the go-to source for all news related to the league. With the current trade situation surrounding Jimmy Butler, the Suns, Lakers, Warriors and other teams, fans wait for his updates.

But along with his role as an NBA Insider, Charania also gives updates on other things basketball. For instance, a few months ago, he announced a high school recruit committing to one of college basketball’s programs. However, that news went unnoticed and would not necessarily draw a lot of attention.

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However, his announcement of the 1st overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft did draw a lot of negative attention. Now, he came out with news that pertains to the WNBA. Since it was about Brittney Griner, the basketball world will sit up and notice. He revealed this on his X earlier today.

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After 11 seasons in Phoenix, 10-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner has agreed to a deal with the Atlanta Dream, sources tell me and Alexa Philippou. Griner spent her entire career with Mercury and now heads to Atlanta in one of most stunning free agency moves in league history.

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This was news to WNBA fans as Brittney Griner is a force on her own. She is leaving the Phoenix Mercury who drafted her and helped her win her only WNBA championship to date. This move to the Atlanta Dream came as a shock to many.

Brittney Griner‘s name is still fresh in the minds of all basketball fans. Her arrest and imprisonment in Russia was a highly publicized affair. It even led to a political discourse and ultimately, she returned back home as part of a prisoner exchange.

Fans troll Shams Charania for not providing NBA trade news

The reason this news shocked basketball fans was because they were waiting for some update on the Jimmy Butler situation. He did give an update on NBA Today, but his X account mostly concentrated on the situation developing in Sacramento.

Fans felt this announcement on X with the words Phoenix gave them the impression the Butler trade was a done deal. Only for them to realize it is about the WNBA. That is when they took shots at the ESPN employee, examples of which are below.

This Brittney Griner news suggests Shams Charania is also tasked with handling breaking WNBA news. Other major trades were revealed by his colleague Alexa Philippou. But this one came to his attention, therefore, he had to announce it.

With the millions of fans following him, the WNBA news spread wider than what Philippou’s did. As the network looks to ramp up its coverage on the fast-growing women’s league, the likes of Charania could continue being a part of such breaking news in the future.