Chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen Calls Out ESPN For Firing Zach Lowe

Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is a long-time basketball fan. He seems to be following the off-season closely, recently dishing out his take on ESPN’s dismissal of Zach Lowe.

The 33-year-old was among the many fans dismayed by Lowe’s departure from the sports network. He took to his X account to call out the move, writing, “One of the biggest L’s in 2024” in response to NBACentral’s report on Zach Lowe.

The five-time World Chess champion considers ESPN’s firing of Zach Lowe a losing move. Much of the NBA community is on Carlsen’s side too, with the latest layoff by ESPN rubbing many the wrong way.

Since last summer, Disney, who own ESPN, has been on a cost-cutting tear, reducing roughly 7,000 jobs in 2023. 20-year veteran Jeff Van Gundy was among the first fan-favorites to be axed by the sporting giant, leading to outrage from the NBA community.

A year later, the $172 billion company has once again announced that they will be cutting down 300 jobs in one week. Though ESPN has not officially commented on the reasoning behind Zach Lowe’s dismissal, most fans have already put two and two together.

The decision to part ways with Lowe came during a contract extension year, with an insider noting, “His salary was the biggest factor in his dismissal from ESPN.”

However, Lowe is also one of the best-regarded sports reporters of his generation. Since he began as a writer at Grantland in 2012, the Dartmouth graduate built a robust fan following through his evidence-focused and balanced approach to news coverage. He rarely flaunts sensationalist tendencies and is one of the few journalists who doesn’t display an outright bias toward a single team.

According to many fans, he is worth the money, and his dismissal has brought into question the priorities of ESPN’s basketball coverage. Zach Lowe wouldn’t get them viral online with catchy aphorisms and complaints. But his keen understanding of the game resonated with many a basketball fan, including chess grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen, and recently retired ESPN veteran, Adrian Wojnarowski.

“Zach is easily one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with or around in this industry. He absolutely changed how the NBA was covered and how people consumed both stories and pods,” Woj tweeted after learning of Lowe’s dismissal.

There are already murmurs around the water cooler that Lowe will not remain a free agent for very long, though. Reports have The Ringer as the favorite to land his signature. After all, it was Bill Simmons who first gave Zach an entry into ESPN. Now, the two have the opportunity to reunite under Simmons’ own banner.

Unfortunately, whether this move happens, The Lowe Post podcast, a fan favorite, will probably return with a rebrand since the name was owned by ESPN. Whatever the case may be, Carlsen and Wojnarowski are keenly following Lowe’s next moves, as are fans worldwide.