Tony Kornheiser spent weeks urging Michael Wilbon to take a break from Pardon the Interruption. On November 2, Wilbon took his longtime cohost’s advice. He announced an indefinite leave from their show and from his work covering the NBA for ESPN and ABC.
Wilbon, 67, wrote on X that several health problems had become harder to manage in recent months. Doctors and people close to him had seen warning signs years earlier. “Probably, I should have listened,” he wrote.
Just 11 days earlier, Wilbon and Kornheiser had marked 25 years of PTI. The two first got to know each other as sportswriters at The Washington Post. The arguments they used to have in the newsroom became the basis for the show that ESPN put on the air in October 2001.
Wilbon made clear he intends to work again, though he couldn’t say when. He called the leave “a trip to the injured list” and said his goal was to feel well enough to get back to sparring with Tony.
Wilbon Told Kornheiser He Felt “Beyond Exhausted”
Wilbon last appeared on PTI on October 26. When he called in to The Tony Kornheiser Show the following Monday, he explained what had kept him off television. “Beyond exhausted, lifeless,” was how he described feeling. Executive producer Erik Rydholm and coordinating producer Matt Kelliher had both noticed how tired he was and had encouraged him to take time off.
Wilbon told Kornheiser that diabetes accounted for some of what he was experiencing. He didn’t identify the other health issues. The two also found time for some of their usual Monday conversation, talking football and that night’s Northwestern basketball game against Binghamton.
Pablo Torre and Frank Isola Will Fill In on PTI
Statement from ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Michael Wilbon
ESPN supports Michael & looks forward to him returning to @PTI & @ESPNNBA coverage https://t.co/2wKN1B95FN
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) November 2, 2026
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said Wilbon and his family have the network’s full support and that ESPN would welcome him back whenever he feels ready. An ESPN spokesperson told Front Office Sports that Pablo Torre and Frank Isola would fill in on PTI during the week of November 2. The schedule beyond that week was still open.
Isola already knows the chair well. When ESPN tallied more than 5,500 episodes for the anniversary, it named him the most frequent guest host in the show’s history.
Stephen A. Smith Recognized a Habit the Two Men Share
On his SiriusXM show Monday, Wilbon’s NBA colleague Stephen A. Smith said Wilbon often gave him a hard time for being a workaholic. Smith thought the same description fit his friend.
Smith said he’d known the leave was coming. He would miss seeing Wilbon on television, but he was glad to see him make time for his health. “We need him around for a very, very long time,” Smith said, according to Awful Announcing.