NBA Insider Defends Report Of NBPA Surveying Players About Return

NBA Insiders Adrian Wojnarowki and Shams Charania are two of the most trusted basketball reporters in the business, but Twitter certainly had fun in their mentions after the two came out with conflicting reports.

Wojnarowski on Tuesday cited sources saying the National Basketball Players’ Association was reaching out to its members trying to gauge their desire to return to play this season. The NBPA’s regional representatives inquired with players in various ways, promising confidentiality, the ESPN writer said.

National Basketball Players Association regional representatives started texting NBA players today with a 'yes or no' question it says will be kept confidential: Do you want to try and play again this season? The union's trying to gauge broader sentiment of its 400-plus players.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 12, 2020

Sources: Some teams received the question as part of a group text that included the entire roster. One rep asked a team's players: "Do you want to try and play this season, yes or no?" Another rep worded to a different group: "Do you want the season to start again?" https://t.co/p9XgbVKXOa

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 12, 2020

About two hours later, Charania reported the NBPA’s statement saying it wasn’t “engaging in and has not authorized any formal poll of its players.” The Athletic insider also gave insight about a call set up Tuesday between the league and a few players.

The National Basketball Players Association has released a statement to @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium: “The NBPA is not engaging in and has not authorized any formal poll of its players.”

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 12, 2020

But Wojnarowski defended his reporting, and after Charania’s tweets, Wojnarowski added more insight to his original report.

He offered that NBPA regional representative Tim McCormick specifically mentioned executive director Michele Roberts when prodding the players.

In NBPA regional rep Tim McCormick's group text to players, he wrote: "Michele (Roberts) asked for me to reach out and ask the simple confidential question: "Do you want the season to start again?" https://t.co/li3YwdF3X1

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 12, 2020

Of course, the sequence of events prompted followers of the two NBA insiders to make some jokes.

Here’s what Twitter had to say.