ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski "became a master of synonyms" during the net's coverage of the NBA Draft in order to "slyly circumvent" ESPN's decision to restrict reporters from tipping picks early, according to Chad Finn of the BOSTON GLOBE. Instead of using Twitter to say a team was "selecting a specific player, he hedged it ever-so-slightly." However, it did not take long to "realize he was indeed giving his followers the scoop." Wojnarowski used synonyms like "focused on selecting," and "zeroing in on" when describing teams' preferences for players. He was "correct every time" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/22). In DC, Des Bieler notes it "remains to be seen whether Wojnarowski faces any punishment from ESPN, but if he is asked to explain himself, it’s apparent that his defense strategy will consist of pointing to the fact that, strictly speaking, he never actually said any team would, in fact, definitely select a given player." He decided to use an "increasingly amusing ruse in which he connected specific players to specific teams at specific draft slots but used language just indefinite enough to leave, oh, about 0.00000001 percent of uncertainty whether his insights would be borne out." He "gave a sign of things to come with his first tweet revealing a pick" when the Grizzlies were about to take Jaren Jackson Jr. From there, it was "just a matter of waiting to see what kind of phrasing Wojnarowski would use." Some "speculated that Wojnarowski only began doing so after seeing" the New York Times’ Marc Stein -- who revealed the first three picks on Twitter before they were announced -- "steal what has been for years very much his thunder" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/22).
WITHIN THE BOUNDS: In N.Y., Andrew Marchand cites sources as saying that heading into the Draft, there was "some apprehension among top ESPN executives Wojnarowski might tweet about the picks, but since they knew his competitive nature, there had been communication on how to proceed." Sources said that they did "not view Wojnarowski’s actions Thursday as going rogue" (N.Y. POST, 6/22).
