After six years covering the NBA for the "Worldwide Leader in Sports," Chris Sheridan is going solo.
The veteran journalist announced via his Twitter on Tuesday that he is leaving ESPN to start his own blog, SheridanHoops.com. This makes Sheridan the second writer to leave ESPN in a week after Bruce Feldman jumped ship to join CBS Sports on Thursday.
Sheridan joined ESPN after covering basketball for 18 years for The Associated Press. A lead writer for ESPN's website and a frequent guest on SportsCenter, the 46-year-old did not cover the NBA Finals in June, prompting peers to wonder about his absence.
Conventional wisdom leads one to believe that ESPN was not happy that Sheridan filed a libel lawsuit against New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey, alleging that "a maliciously false article" threatened Sheridan's "veracity and competence as a journalist."
The suit was prompted after Vecsey penned a Dec. 14 column calling out Sheridan for suggesting the Knicks were the only team Carmelo Anthony would agree to be traded to. Sheridan proved to be right in the end, which may have given him all the convincing he needed that a libel suit was a worthwhile endeavor.
When reached for comment on the matter, Sheridan said "I'm looking forward and not backward."
