July 1 was supposed to mark the beginning of arguably the most anticipated summer the NBA had ever seen.
It was supposed to denote the beginning of the free agency period of some of the biggest and most influential names in the league – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, to name a few.
This month was built up with the thoughts that where those superstars sign will establish the fate and direction the league takes for the next decade. It could determine a shift of power among teams and divisions.
July 1. The date loomed over the NBA news front for a couple of years like an ominous cloud. Really, the way it was talked up, you would think the Mayans had this summer marked on their calendar as the end of times.
It was supposed to be the Summer of 2010, but less than a week into July it has quickly turned into the Summer of Misinformation – due in large part to the coverage provided by ESPN.
The Worldwide Leader in Sports, as it is so affectionately known, has been waiting for this summer with as much anticipation as fans in Cleveland, New York, Miami and Chicago.
This summer was supposed to be the network’s time to shine; to blow the coverage of this free agency period out of the water – after all, ESPN probably has more resources at its disposal than any other sports media outlet out there.
But no, what was supposed to be a golden opportunity for ESPN as a media outlet was botched in the first couple of days of the free agency period.
From a journalistic view, it seems ESPN is focused on being the first to report things, but with that mindset, accuracy is often compromised.
The weekend before the free agency period began, ESPN reported that Wade, James and Bosh had a free agent summit in Miami discussing the possibility of all three coming together to play for the Heat. No more than a day later did The Miami Herald debunk that report with proof that all three weren’t even in Miami that weekend.
One of the finer examples of sacrificing accuracy for being first was when Chad Ford first reported that Wade was meeting with the Chicago Bulls for a second time, at the player’s request.
Ford, at the time of the report, said Wade was leaning toward signing with his hometown Bulls.
Multiple other media outlets reported that Wade’s second meeting with the Bulls was at the team’s request and that Wade met the request as a courtesy, because apparently he’s not the type of businessman to turn down a face-to-face.
In an attempt to be the first to report the meeting, Ford – and ESPN – through their multiple anonymous sources, failed to accurately report the news, if you even want to call the meeting news, and sent Miami Heat fans everywhere into a full-on panic.
Aside from having reports contradict those of the local beat writers for some of the teams, ESPN’s coverage has made drama where there isn’t drama, and catered to its viewers in major markets like New York and Chicago all for the sake of ratings.
One minute, the network gives off the impression that LeBron is set to join the Knicks, marching out ESPN’s resident “capologist” to explain how adding LeBron plus another free agent would work for New York.
The next minute, Wade, Bosh and LeBron are all but guaranteed to play together in Chicago – this time, conveniently, without prancing out that same salary cap expert to explain the logistics of the Bulls making room for all three.
But at the end of the day, all of these anonymous sources and breaking reports mean nothing until those players sign on the dotted line sometime after the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
For ESPN, a summer that should have showed why it is the Worldwide Leader in Sports has instead shown that the network cares about more than being a premier media outlet.
It has shown that ratings and being first can trump accuracy and reporting of actual news.
I for one can’t wait for free agency to be over with so we can move on to the next big thing that ESPN will misinform us on, which will probably be another Brett Favre retirement saga.
