The Rondo Trade Story: Anatomy Of A Lie

   Fish is courteously pretending that HoopsWorld’s “Rondo Trade’’ story is an “April Fool’s joke’’ or a “computer glitch.’’ I can’t dismiss it so kindly, especially as the erroneous “scoop’’ not only gets more legs but comes with the website that is guilty of such horrendous journalism trying to distance itself from responsibility.

   And that IS what this is: Horrendous journalism. It’s also a sad lesson that teaches us that a lie garners a website three times the traffic that the truth garners – and thus might explain HoopsWorld’s willingless to lie about a “Rondo Trade.’’

   The beauty of the internet is that there is a permanent record of what happened when and of who said what. Let’s examine:

THE ORIGINAL RAJON RONDO ‘SCOOP’

This story ran midday Thurs 6/4 at HoopsWorld under the following headline: 

 

NBA PM: Celtics Shopping Allen, Rondo?

By: Bill Ingram

For the past few days we've been hearing rumors that the Boston Celtics might be willing to part with Ray Allen before the start of the 2009-2010 season. HOOPSWORLD asked around in Chicago, where the majority of NBA executives were taking a look at most of the first round draft prospects, and managed to find out a few more details. We have now added to those, with the help of WEEI in Boston.

Off the record, we have several sources telling us that Ray Allen is, indeed, on the block. It's easy to make the leap, as the Celtics have managed to develop some nice young talent around their Big Three while also managing to win a championship. They might have even repeated had Kevin Garnett been healthy. It's not a stretch to say the Celtics would part with Allen, who has an ending contract next season, if they could add another top young player to the mix.

On the record we have an added wrinkle - one that we thought to be highly unlikely until we found it reported with a quote attributed to Celtics GM Danny Ainge. It seems the Celtics are willing to package Rajon Rondo with Allen to make the right deal happen

"He's stubborn," Ainge told ESPN's Jackie MacMullen. "He doesn't always take direction well. He's very bright and knows what he needs to do to be successful. But sometimes he doesn't understand what the team needs to be successful."

Doc Rivers expressed similar sentiments, which he directed at Rondo himself earlier this season.

"Do you know your teammates hate playing with you? ... The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team. You can't be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it."

At the same time, Rondo has guys like Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins saying he's their leader and they believe in him. And while there is a great deal to be said for patience and seeing if Rondo will improve as much next season as he did in 2008-09, there is certainly a lot of negativity coming from the decision-makers - enough to fuel trade speculation.

The latest rumor making its way around - and we're not hearing that there is any truth to it, on or off the record - has the Phoenix Suns sending Amar'e Stoudemire (of course) to the Celtics in a package for Rondo and Allen, with Leandro Barbosa also included in the deal.

So . . .who gets benched? Kevin Garnett? Kendrick Perkins? You're talking about the best defensive front court in the NBA a season ago. Sitting Perkins removes a strong defender and replaces him with a true defensive screen door.

There is definitely some truth to the idea that the Celtics would move Ray Allen - and maybe even Rajon Rondo - if the right deal came along. As for the Suns coming up with the right deal, that seems highly unlikely.

THE GIGANTIC RED FLAGS

That story is got picked up by reputable outlets, from SI.com to The Sporting News (props to Shoals for his skepticism) and beyond. It was repeated, discussed on radio shows across the country, and even made its way to ESPN.

On the surface, there are some gigantic red flags (as is so often the case with HoopsWorld scoops, frankly ... remember a very similar Josh-for-Bargnani "scoop''?):

* The author actually writes that “off the record, we have several sources telling us …’’

 

There is a problem here, and any freshman journalism student knows it: If it’s OFF THE RECORD, that means it’s OFF THE RECORD. The author cannot be telling us that those sources are “telling him’’ anything. That’s what OFF THE RECORD MEANS.

 

 *The author also goes on to speculate that Kevin Garnett might get benched because Rondo and Ray Allen might get traded for Amare, but adds “we’re not saying there is any truth to it.’’

 

There is a problem here, too: If there isn’t any truth to it, why are we here?

 

*”Sources.’’ Ah, the weapon of writer who is “playing’’ reporter. The story is filled with mentions of “on-the-record’’ interviews and even has quotes from Rivers and Ainge being used to support the “scoop’’ of a possible trade. If you’ve got Rivers and Ainge saying it on the record, why are you relying on unnamed “sources’’?

 

We know the answer, of course: Logic suggests that there are no unnamed sources here. Logic dictates that the author does not have one-on-one access to Ainge AND Rivers AND “several’’ other Celtics sources.

 

Logic dictates that the author is “playing’’ reporter here.  

 

THE SUSPENSION OF HONESTY

 

People in the NBA community know to raise an eyebrow when HoopsWorld claims to have sources. This story begins with "Several sources" telling HoopsWorld that Allen is on the block. Hmm.

But it gets way worse than that, as the author completely twists a quote – misappropriates a quote, really -- to create the illusion that the Celtics are admitting displeasure in Rondo and are shopping him.

The quote, technically, is real. But the article implied it was in response to some sort of trade rumors, making it toxic - and it was nothing of the sort.

Multiple problems:

*The quote is NOT given in some sort of response to this story they are peddling; HoopsWorld pretends it is.

 *Even worse, the quote is from a story that is almost two months old, and was given in an entirely different context. Here's the actual article they lifted it from dated 4/23/09.

*Furthermore, the quote – seemingly the foundation of this ridiculous story – was actually uttered not two months ago but rather TWO YEARS AGO.

"Do you know your teammates hate playing with you? ... The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team. You can't be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it."

That quote is in MacMullen’s story from April … but she makes it VERY clear that it is something Rivers told Rondo TWO YEARS AGO.

*And finally – two months ago, two years ago, whatever -- you can see from Jackie’s story that it is actually a quote about how the Celtics LOVE Rondo, and they are speaking of how he has grown since that time two years ago when the coach was prodding the kid. Read the original article, and then go back and see what HoopsWorld is trying to claim it means, and you see just how badly it's been twisted.

To now lift that earlier quote and pretend it was current and an expression of current Celtic doubts about the All-Star-caliber Rondo and future in Boston is this business’ version of criminal.

THE FEEDBACK TO HOOPSWORLD

It's further interesting to note how HoopsWorld handled the feedback. Initially Ingram said this in the website’s comments:

4 June 2009 6:46:24 PM "I actually had this story yesterday, but waited to run it because I had to be sure the Rondo factor was actually correct. I found it very hard to believe."

Then a few hours later he blamed ESPN, claiming it was THEIR story and chiding them for using old quotes

4 June 2009 10:24:04 PM "I actually read all of those stories on HoopsHype before writing this piece, included the quotes, which were all from current stories. Not that ESPN is thorough on everything, but generally they're current. You're claiming they took those out of context from something over a year old? Wow . . .hard to believe that."

Of course, it wasn't ESPN who was twisting out-of-date and non-related quotes to bolster an angle they’d decided to pursue; that was all HoopsWorld’s doing. ESPN (and HoopsHype) was simply an unknowing supplier of facts that HoopsWorld (knowingly) decided to bastardize.

A day later, Fri 6/5, Ingram's boss Steve Kyler blames the story on the media in Phoenix and on people trying to create pageviews for the “Rondo Trade’’ story. Kyler offered no admission of culpability and not even an explanation of how a sloppy mistake had been made by HoopsWorld.

NBA AM: Not Trading Rajon Rondo

The Tail Wagging The Dog: Let's get in front of some of these "rumors" - there is little doubt that a lot more speculation is occurring in the media and it's likely a result of more and more desire to generate "buzz" and Pageviews than genuine viable information.

John Gambadoro of KTAR in Phoenix has been spending a lot time on his radio show recently playing the "what if game…" and some people are buying into it. Nothing against John, who has a great radio show which I enjoy a lot. But the facts are not being used in his discussions, he's simply tossing out ideas and fans are interacting with them.

Somehow that becomes "Boston is considering trading Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo for Amar'e Stoudemire."

That's simply not true.

Is Boston considering ways to improve their roster? Absolutely.

Is Ray Allen likely the best trade chip Boston can cash to keep Glen "Big Baby" Davis and add the two additional pieces Doc Rivers says he needs? Likely.

Is Rajon Rondo available? Not a chance.

Would Phoenix like to cash out one of their stars to get better? Yes. Yes twice.

As we covered in this space yesterday, Amar'e Stoudemire has almost no trade value. The remaining two years and $33 million with a damaged eye make him almost worthless unless Phoenix takes on less talent or worse contracts.

If the Suns traded Amar'e now, they get nothing close to his value and it would be selling extremely low. The Suns have got to wait out his recovery, get him on the floor and prove there are no side effects and that's going to take time.

League sources close to Amar'e say he could be cleared to resume athletic activity in the coming weeks and that will help in moving things along and help determine if he's going to have complications.

But let's be real for a minute - There are going to be lots of hair brained "what if's" this summer, keep in mind there is a lot of "Tail Wagging The Dog" stuff going on and most of it is not based on information rather speculation.

Keep listening to John's show if you are in Phoenix, and tell him HOOPSWORLD says Hi!

When he posted that item, Kyler was quickly confronted with a pointed feedback question in the site’s comments: "i thought you guys were the ones that started the rondo and allen hoopla."

Astoundingly, at this point Kyler claimed ignorance and innocence on the part of Hoopsworld, replying:

 "Nope... just overwhelmed yesterday by the volume of people claiming it was being discussed... and it became a "tail wagging the dog" scenario, especially in Boston... everyone assumed it to be true, but both th Celtics and Suns have claimed to have never talked or mentioned it."

Wait. … what? OTHER people claimed it was being discussed? No, HoopsWorld is in fact the ONLY outlet that made that claim – and oh by the way, HoopsWorld is the one that got “Pageviews’’ from the story: 18,000 poor souls have actually gone to the original “Rondo Trade’’ story.

Consider this: One day, HoopsWorld writes a story saying Rondo is being “shopped.’’ They get 18,000 hits.

The very next day, HoopsWorld writes a story saying Rondo is NOT getting traded. They get 6,000 hits.

That’s 24,000 viewers for a Story That Never Was. But it’s also a lesson to anybody chasing (short-term) viewership: Tell a lie and you get three times as many pageviews as if you tell the truth.

One sidebar about KTAR Radio in Phoenix: It’s weird that Kyler would mention them as the original source of the story … until you dig around and find that in fact, it seems sometime on or before June 2, KTAR did apparently toss out some rumors.

Problem is, this doesn’t take HoopsWorld off the hook. It makes it look like either they made the whole thing up. … or they lifted the idea from “Joe in Tempe’’ and turned it into a news story essentially using “Joe in Tempe’’ as its “several sources.’’

That seems likely:

*Ingram writes that Hoopworld "heard rumors'' about Rondo early in the week. What they actually heard was a Phoenix radio show discussing crazy ideas.

*HoopsWorld is in Chicago, where they visit with somebody from a Boston radio station. A Rondo trade? Interesting! And suddenly, they've got themselves two "sources'' on a Boston-Phoenix trade -- a radio station in Boston and a radio station in Phoenix.

*Ingram is trying to fortify his rumor so (by his own admission) he goes to HoopsHype and ESPN -- probably after Googling "Rondo trade'' -- and finds the old Ainge and Rivers quotes. Hey! He's got his "on-the-record'' sources.

Yes, I'm guessing the whole thing started innocuously enough, with a Phoenix radio station tossing out some Amare trade ideas ...

BINGO.

Here's a New England website on June 3 reporting EXACTLY what was said on the Phoenix station.

As for STAT, Gambo thinks the Celtics would consider parting with Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen for Amare, Leandro Barbosa and the Suns’ 14th-pick in the draft. G&A are intrigued by the deal. Ash feels the trade would improve the Celtics greatly. He has no problem dealing Steve Nash if the deal goes down. The player he would like in return is big man Kendrick Perkins. Gambo likes the deal, specifically because it would bring one of the best young point guards (back) to Phoenix in Rondo.

And there you have it. One radio station tossed out ideas. Another radio station misunderstood the "ideas'' as being "rumors.'' HoopsWorld wanted in on it, so it pretended the "rumors'' were "facts'' -- and even pretended it had "sources.''

And when HoopsWorld got caught, it pretended it was all the fault of the original radio station.

It's all quite dishonest.

As much as kindly ol’ Fish wants to refrain from attacking HoopsWorld’s lameness, getting 18,000 pageviews is almost certainly the reason HoopsWorld would write such a ridiculous story so full of inaccuracies, half-truths and (sources!) probable fibs. ... and the radio angle revealed here suggests strongly that HoopsWorld did so knowingly.

It’s a deal with the devil – or at least I hope it is. Imagine the hits and exposure Fish could get if he’d take a suggestion from DB.com Boards that Dallas should trade Dirk and write it as a front-page story claiming to have “several sources’’ … tossed in some stuff about this Cristal mess. … and then somehow cobbled into the “scoop’’ actual on-the-record quotes from Cuban and Donnie seemingly expressing dissatisfaction with Dirk?

We’d be famous! … but also ashamed of ourselves.

So how does HoopsWorld feel about itself here? I don't know.

Maybe HoopsWorld can ask its “several sources’’ for the answer.

 

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1111am june 7 2009

 

                                                            

 

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