If you don’t like having draft picks spoiled for you, we have great news.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says that he isn’t going to spoil picks on Twitter this year. Now, the only question is whether or not we should actually believe him.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that the league insider suggested he would not spoil the results of the 2023 NBA Draft.
Who could forget when Woj found a silly loophole and used all sorts of synonyms in the 2018 NBA Draft? The following year, in 2019, he just said “focused on” but he tried a more creative approach again during the 2020 NBA Draft.
Now, however, it sounds like Woj may actually not tweet out the results of the 2023 NBA Draft before it happens on TV. At least that is what he told The Ringer podcaster Ryen Russillo.
For this year’s NBA draft, @wojespn will NOT be tweeting out each pick.
He explained why to @ryenarussillo: pic.twitter.com/Sum4JxgmYw
— The Ringer (@ringer) June 15, 2023
Here is more from Woj (via The Ringer):
“Going from Yahoo to ESPN and sort of seeing what the responsibility is on the broadcast and feeling like I need to be more fully engaged in the show … I’m not doing the picks this year … But the pick-by-pick, I don’t think it has value anymore for me or for ESPN.”
Woj says he will focus on breaking any trades that happen and provide “more storytelling” on the TV broadcast. This is good news for basketball fans.
Remember: Last year, fans were very upset at Woj for spoiling draft picks hours before the event even started. My colleague, Prince Grimes, opined about how frustrating it is when picks are tipped on Twitter.
“The reality is that drafts exist. And as they are, they can sometimes make for decent television – which is why they’ll probably always be here.
But you know what ruins that television product? When you already know what’s going to happen. And that’s my most immediate issue with the NBA Draft. When the Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets make picks 1, 2 and 3 tonight, there will be little to no suspense. We already know what’s going to happen thanks to Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA insider for the network that broadcasts the draft.”
As it turned out, however, Woj was actually wrong about two of the first three picks he projected and bettors lost their minds.
Unfortunately, however, there is no way that all reporters agree to this same embargo. We can almost definitely expect the likes of Shams Charania, Chris Haynes, Jake Fischer and others to try to get their scoops out on draft night.
Is it possible for Woj to see Charania and Haynes and Fischer breaking news and resist joining the party himself? We will find out on June 22.
