Michael Wilbon is taking a break.
The longtime ESPN commentator and co-host of the network’s popular “Pardon the Interruption” talk show alongside good friend Tony Kornheiser announced Monday he is taking a leave of absence because of what he described as “multiple health issues.”
Wilbon, a Chicago native who turns 68 later this month, wrote in a post on X that he is taking a trip to “the injured list” but added he hopes it is “not an extended one.”
While Wilbon, who is also featured on ESPN’s NBA coverage, declined to go into full detail about what he is facing, he said during his weekly appearance on Kornheiser’s podcast on Monday that he is diabetic and that is “part of what I’m dealing with now, but not the entirety of it.”
Wilbon’s last appearance on “PTI,” which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and is credited with revolutionizing television’s “sports debate” format, was on Oct. 26.
“I didn’t do the show for a week because I was just exhausted,” Wilbon told Kornheiser. “Beyond exhausted, lifeless. And this has been going on for a while.”
Wilbon a Northwestern alum and member of the school’s board of trustees, stressed that his decision is not a retirement and he plans to return at some point, adding that his symptoms became too significant to ignore.
“I have to listen,” he said to Kornheiser. “I’ve got things going on that are forcing me to listen.”
The show, in part, is a byproduct of the friendship of Wilbon and Kornheiser, who became colleagues at the Washington Post in the 1980s.
“I have loved sparring and hosting PTI with Tony every single day these past 25 years,” Wilbon wrote. “And I’m incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement of my colleagues as I take this time away to concentrate on me, especially my well-being.”
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