Lacking credibility and often wrong: just who are these sources?

The NBA Draft is on the horizon and sources are buzzing around, relaying everything they can to media outlets such as ESPN. It’s entertaining. As a fan, I enjoy reading about potential moves on draft day, especially those involving veteran stars. But where are all these rumors coming from? Who are the sources we here so often about? How much credibility should they have?

The Oregonian‘s Jason Quick recently made the switch on the paper’s staff from beat reporter to columnist. In doing so, he said in an interview with The MSP’s Chad Doing that he will cease from using ‘unnamed sources’. Using this term isn’t necessarily the forté of columnists, but even still this is a great decision by Quick. Not naming the people who are spouting the supposed truth relating to a situation is infuriating. One cannot be a reporter without allowing sources to be anonymous, but still, to give information credibility knowing the specifics of the source is imperative.

Are these people affiliated with the teams? Are they outsiders who are connected to the players, coaches, or members of the front office. “Sources” doesn’t do much for me. When I first started to take note of their usage, I trusted them. But now, just an unenthusiastic shrug of the shoulders is all they will get from me. This is largely because they are so often wrong.

Throughout the day, ESPN and other media outlets have reported, through sources, that the Phoenix Suns are actively shopping center Marcin Gortat and star point guard Steve Nash. It has been said they desire the Minnesota Timberwolves’ second overall selection.

According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, “Sources say that the player Phoenix covets in the draft is Arizona forward Derrick Williams, although Suns officials publicly have denied reports that they have alternatively offered center Marcin Gortat and the No. 13 overall pick for the No. 2 selection instead of Nash.”

That was quickly refuted. “We are not trading Marcin Gortat. Period. End of sentence,” Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said Wednesday morning, as documented by The Arizona Republic. “We are not trading Steve Nash. Period. Exclamation point.”

I tend to think some scenarios are reported just to create some buzz. They are doing their job, but it’s a perfect ploy. Many trade scenarios are bandied about within the media. Reporters give hypothetical possibilities, saying the team “should” do something or could have a certain player on their radar based on their needs. This is automatically news, especially during this portion in the NBA offseason. Bloggers write full-fledged pieces surrounding “Sources say this player could be targeted by this team.” Even journalists, such as The Oregonian‘s John Canzano, get into the act, as he did when Golden State Warriors’ Monta Ellis was linked to Portland.

Ellis, according to Canzano, was “rumored to be headed to Philadelphia, Orlando, Atlanta or Portland”, so he decided to write an article about that. There was nothing further of note on the web linking Ellis and Portland. Where’s the professionalism in what Canzano did, and where’s the journalism in the rumors surrounding sources that, for some reason, are routinely unnamed?

It isn’t just Canzano’s piece. It’s hundreds of other articles written based solely on rumors that may, and probably, have no legs. Admittedly, I have done this. It’s hard not too, considering how little is let out to the media of value; it was apparent in an interview on The Oregonian‘s website that Quick and fellow sportswriter Joe Freeman know little about Portland’s actual mindset.

This won’t stop. “Sources say” has been used for years and years. It used to be really thrilling and believable. It is now tiresome. What happens, happens. And what does probably won’t be what sources have spread around.