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For those who have taken issue with ESPN insider Shams Charania over the years, the latest story involving the longtime NBA reporter shows just how ethical his approach to reporting the news actually is. While it may seem that Charania is quick to report every major NBA news tidbit, his decision NOT to report one incredibly important piece of LeBron James' free agency decision, ultimately joining the Philadelphia 76ers, was extremely telling.
Charania sat down with James' agent, Rich Paul, and Max Kellerman on the Game Over podcast, and there were several interesting takeaways, but one specifically stood out. After Paul said that Charania "let something slip past" him and he "never knew it" during LeBron's free agency, the ESPN insider asked what it was, only to reveal that he knew exactly what it was.
"Now you tell me Rich if I'm right or wrong. Is it the Cavs front office group, Koby Altman, Brandon Weems, the Gilbert family..." Charania said.
Paul responded by saying, "ok, what are you referring to? What happened?"
"Meeting with LeBron in Akron in early July? Is that the loaf of bread you're talking about?" Charania responded.
Paul was amazed and asked how Charania knew about it, admitting he had thought it had gotten by him, and added, "Nobody knew about that."
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Charania explained it thoroughly, including why he decided not to report it. Specifically, he cited the ethical side and the extent to which James means to the Cavaliers' fanbase.
"So in real time, the integrity aspect matters more than anything, because this was information I was told by multiple people on background, off the record," Charania said. "This was something that ethically, I couldn't report because, one, it wasn't told to me in a way that I was able to have a reporter go double and triple-check. It was told to me off the record...As we spoke about earlier on this show, for me, responsibility is important, being upfront is important, ethically doing the job the right way.
My job is to tell the truth, but also, if it's off the record and it's being told like, this isn't reportable, and if I did that, you're burning the source. And the other side of it is also this, you know the history of LeBron in Cleveland and what he means to that organization, and something like that, and it's probably why it was told to me off the record. If that were something that got out, I do think in real time, it does lead on a little bit."
Kellerman went on to explain that, in that case, if it turned out he didn't go to Cleveland, which he didn't, then everyone is crushed.
It's a pretty amazing back-and-forth between Paul and Charania, and also shows that the longtime reporter vets information thoroughly before reporting the news. Arguably, one of the most interesting bits of information from this conversation is that Paul admits Charania never mentioned it to him, either.
The unique look behind the curtain at what goes into Charania's reporting process is also pretty incredible to hear. From the sound of it, the thought of reporting this news, based on how it was brought to him, never appeared to even be on the table.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Rich Paul stunned as Shams Charania drops unreported LeBron free agency secret
Continue reading...
Charania sat down with James' agent, Rich Paul, and Max Kellerman on the Game Over podcast, and there were several interesting takeaways, but one specifically stood out. After Paul said that Charania "let something slip past" him and he "never knew it" during LeBron's free agency, the ESPN insider asked what it was, only to reveal that he knew exactly what it was.
"Now you tell me Rich if I'm right or wrong. Is it the Cavs front office group, Koby Altman, Brandon Weems, the Gilbert family..." Charania said.
Paul responded by saying, "ok, what are you referring to? What happened?"
"Meeting with LeBron in Akron in early July? Is that the loaf of bread you're talking about?" Charania responded.
Paul was amazed and asked how Charania knew about it, admitting he had thought it had gotten by him, and added, "Nobody knew about that."
Want more content from FTW? Sign up for The Morning Win here to get the day's top stories!
Why Shams Charania didn't report the massive LeBron James free agency tidbit
Charania explained it thoroughly, including why he decided not to report it. Specifically, he cited the ethical side and the extent to which James means to the Cavaliers' fanbase.
"So in real time, the integrity aspect matters more than anything, because this was information I was told by multiple people on background, off the record," Charania said. "This was something that ethically, I couldn't report because, one, it wasn't told to me in a way that I was able to have a reporter go double and triple-check. It was told to me off the record...As we spoke about earlier on this show, for me, responsibility is important, being upfront is important, ethically doing the job the right way.
My job is to tell the truth, but also, if it's off the record and it's being told like, this isn't reportable, and if I did that, you're burning the source. And the other side of it is also this, you know the history of LeBron in Cleveland and what he means to that organization, and something like that, and it's probably why it was told to me off the record. If that were something that got out, I do think in real time, it does lead on a little bit."
Kellerman went on to explain that, in that case, if it turned out he didn't go to Cleveland, which he didn't, then everyone is crushed.
It's a pretty amazing back-and-forth between Paul and Charania, and also shows that the longtime reporter vets information thoroughly before reporting the news. Arguably, one of the most interesting bits of information from this conversation is that Paul admits Charania never mentioned it to him, either.
The unique look behind the curtain at what goes into Charania's reporting process is also pretty incredible to hear. From the sound of it, the thought of reporting this news, based on how it was brought to him, never appeared to even be on the table.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Rich Paul stunned as Shams Charania drops unreported LeBron free agency secret
Continue reading...
