Let me start with this, I’m actually a big fan of both Shams Charania (aka Shams) and Adrian Wojnarowski (aka Woj). When it comes to NBA breaking news, they are usually on top of it and extremely accurate.
However, there is one day each year I despise both and that’s the night of the NBA Draft. For some reason, they seem to think they deserve the spotlight more than the players.
When it comes to the draft, ESPN does a great job with their broadcast, and fans all over the world wait for Adam Silver to take the stage to announce each pick with much fanfare. After the pick is announced we take to twitter to see the reactions from other fans; it’s a tradition as old as ….. well twitter. Honestly, that is one of the best parts of the NBA Draft, especially when a team completely screws up their pick, the reaction of their fans is fun to watch.
However, in recent years, both Woj and Shams have taken it upon themselves to announce picks before the commissioner. In fact, this year, before Adam Silver announced the 6th pick, Shams had already tweeted both the 7th and 8th selections. What’s even crazier is that Woj works for ESPN. So while he’s part of the broadcast, he’s spoiling the excitement online. How does ESPN let this happen? Imagine Robert Downey Jr walking the red carpet at the at the premier of Avengers: Endgame and announcing, “Ironman Dies”.
Here’s what I don’t get, they don’t even provide insight or analysis on the pick, they simply play the role of spoiler and move on to the next pick. And in order to avoid them spoiling the pick, I have to avoid twitter because even when I unfollow them for the night, people retweet/comment on their tweets. I don’t know what they have to gain from spoiling the picks, is it a power trip to showoff how great their sources are?
ESPN gives billions of dollars to the NBA for the broadcast rights to games and special events….the fact that they let reporters jeopardize the value ESPN receives is amazing. Here’s what I would do if I’m the NBA; simply put a rule in place where if any reporters announces a draft pick prior to Adam Silver, their press credentials are revoked for half the season. There, you’re welcome NBA.
