Adrian Wojnarowski piece

You're saying it's believable that an NBA executive could get fined a half-million dollars without anyone finding out about it? If true, that has to be close to the biggest fine ever levied against one person. You're telling me the media wouldn't have known about it, or if they did, they wouldn't have reported it?

Sorry, I can't believe that for a second.

 

Well, someone did find out...

 

Four years later, and for a piece intended solely to be a hatchet job.

I mean, NBA fines are public record, aren't they? There are databases out there that list all of them except this one.

Micky Arison got fined the exact same amount in 2011, and while the league didn't comment, it did confirm it. Why the difference with the alleged Dumars fine?

 

Yes, because you know Draper's intention

 

I know enough to know I don't yet trust him or his "sources."

 

I love the part where he starts lamenting the use of anonymous sources, and A) holds up ESPN as the standard-bearer of strict journalism in this regard; then B) writes that "In reporting this piece I pushed interviewees to include information on the record, but found it impossible not to use anonymous sources. The media culture surrounding the NBA assumes anonymity as default, often with a weak justification that goes something like “hey, this isn’t national security reporting, so who cares?”

So Woj shouldn't have done it, but this shit is hard, dawg!

 

That's fair. I've been reading Draper long enough to know I find him fair-minded, and I trust him to report that responsibly. If I weren't as familiar with his work, I'd have doubts, too (though it seems some are based on a misreading of his article).

Just as I believe surprising news Woj reports, I also believe Draper. In both cases, the reporter has earned that with me.

 

Here's how Deadspin describes the piece:

I guess "goes in on" and "deserves some going-in upon" could be interpreted in different ways, but I don't think it's just the people who have some issues with the piece who think it's mostly a rip job. The people who are enjoying it on Twitter--or other Deadspin writers and commenters--also seem to think it's an attempted takedown. I mean, it's hardly a positive story. If it had been a neutral look at the good and bad of Woj I don't think Deadspin would regret not having the story.

 

Fair enough, I suppose, but I don't see how we can trust him enough to buy that he got a four-year-old scoop over literally dozens of NBA reporters we trust more, who we'd have to assume were in a coma at the wheel this entire time.

 

If I had a guess, I'd say one of the reporters quoted in the story told him about it, but the reporter couldn't report it himself because of, yes, his ongoing relationship with the source or sources.

Which would be very meta.

 

Here's the most comprehensive source I could find:

http://www.besttickets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ALL-NBA-Fines-4.01.2013.xlsx

More than 650 fines dating from 2000 to early 2013, and not one mention of Dumars.

 

You're not proving anything. Draper broke the information. It's up to you whether you believe him, but you can stop looking for another public source. The fine was not public knowledge until now.