Reporters tweet NBA draft picks, defying embargo request
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[June 22, 2018]
As NBA front-office executives
made high-pressure decisions in Thursday's draft, another compelling
drama unfolded in front of fans on social media. ESPN's Adrian
Wojnarowski and Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania defied a reported
request by the league to restrict real-time online coverage of the
draft.
The NBA asked its media partners including ESPN, Turner Sports and
Yahoo not to tweet draft picks ahead of the televised broadcast,
according to the media website Awful Announcing. The NFL has pushed
a similar policy in recent years to prevent Twitter and other sites
from undercutting TV coverage.
Despite the request, Wojnarowski and Charania went ahead with their
reporting, routinely breaking news about the next pick before TV
could keep up. They kept quiet for the first few picks, but both
jumped in at No. 4 after Marc Stein of the New York Times reported
the first three selections ahead of the broadcast coverage.
Wojnarowski cleverly tried to find loopholes as he reported each
pick. Rather than directly announcing each selection, he said teams
were "focused on," "zeroing in on," or "fixated on" specific
players.
"Source: Utah Jazz have no plans to pass on Grayson Allen with the
21st pick," Wojnarowski tweeted with another spoiler alert.
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![](../images/062218pics/sports39.jpg)
Jun 21, 2018; Brooklyn, NY, USA; A general view of the draft board
following the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft at the Barclays
Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
Others included: "Source: The Lakers are unlikely to resist Mo
Wagner with the 25th pick," and, "Source: Boston is tantalized by
Robert Williams with the 27th pick."
The reaction online was overwhelmingly positive as Wojnarowski, who
has more than 2 million Twitter followers, appeared to challenge
authority.
Charania was more direct in naming the next pick. Sometimes, only a
few seconds separated his scoops from Wojnarowski's.
--Field Level Media
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