In the current age of social media, it is quite easy to impersonate anyone that you want with a slightly different username. Unfortunately, Chicago Bulls broadcasters Stacey King and Adam Amin fell victim to a fake report from a Twitter/X user impersonating ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
A Twitter/X account with the username @Wojdespn, an impersonator of the actual Wojnarowski social account with the username @Wojespn, tweeted out on Saturday that former Bulls star Derrick Rose had announced his retirement from the NBA after 15 seasons in the league.
BREAKING: Derrick Rose is announcing his retirement after 15 seasons, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/i14Wt8slNa
— Adrian Wojnarowski ᶠᵃⁿ (@wojdespn) March 16, 2024
The tweet fooled many people, garnering over 3.1 million views and counting with over 1,000 interactions on Twitter/X. But perhaps nobody was more publicly humiliated by the report than King and Amin.
In the first quarter of Saturday’s matchup between the Bulls and Washington Wizards, the broadcasters addressed the report that they believed to be from Wojnarowski, noting the importance that Rose had to the franchise during his eight-year tenure with the team.
“It is out on the internet,” said King. “Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that Derrick Rose is retiring after 15 seasons.”
“How about that,” responded Amin. “Wow, think about the Bulls’ impact we’ve had already tonight. Dennis Rodman coming in, and now Derrick Rose after 15 seasons in the NBA. Of course the number one pick by the Bulls in 2008.”
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1769166913480085562
It’s an understandable mistake for Amin and King to make considering all the attention that the tweet received. It would obviously be important for them to honor a legend of the organization like Rose on the broadcast if he had indeed announced his retirement.
And in all honestly, they were probably fed that information by someone else behind the scenes.
With that being said, it may be smart for whoever relayed this information to them to take a bit of a deeper look into the username of their source next time.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.