ESPN needs to do better. They became the shining example of what not to do when they spent an entire segment breaking down a quote from Ja Morant that was very much fictional.
The quote was courtesy of the “satirical” Ballsack Sports, which has gotten a ton of people in trouble for actually believing the things they create.
After seeing the mistake, Morant took to Twitter to react to it and said “these people crazy.” In a follow-up tweet, the 22-year-old mocked ESPN for falling victim to a troll Twitter account that is called “Ballsack Sports.” Seriously, how can anyone not sense it’s a parody/satire site?
Morant may have found it funny, but the Worldwide Leader in Sports made sure to apologize for their actions.
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Host David Jacoby stated on ESPN’s This Just In his sincere on-air apology to Morant and Rooks.
“We made a mistake. We attributed a quote to Ja Morant’s appearances on Taylor Rooks’ show on Bleacher Report that he simply did not say. On behalf of the network, the show’s staff, and myself, I’d like to apologize to Ja and Taylor for our error. We will work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Apologizing is one thing, but this has happened several times this year and ESPN needs to start confirming certain quotes before they have their personalities debate them.
