Media MonsterNBA

Deron Williams Confronts Reporter About Unnamed Source

When Utah’s Deron Williams got to meet CBS Sports’ Ken Berger for the first time, he asked Berger to reveal an unnamed source from a report that said Williams was plotting a move to the New York Knicks in the summer of 2012.

Berger refused, and it produced a cautionary tale for basketball writers who want to be the first to report on a player’s free agent intentions: if you use an unnamed source that talks about a player, you might actually be asked about it.

Let’s rewind for a second. Here’s what Berger originally said in his CBS reports on Friday:

A person with knowledge of the conversations told CBSSports.com on Saturday that Jazz point guard Deron Williams began informing close associates after last season that if Stoudemire wound up in New York, Williams would follow him there as a free agent in 2012.

Okay, back to yesterday. When another reporter asked Williams about the Knicks rumors above, Williams asked who said it.

“Ken Berger from CBS Sports,” the reporter answered.

“I’ve never met Ken Berger in my life,” Williams answered.

That would change soon enough, since Ken Berger was standing right there.

“So, you’re Ken Berger,” Williams said. “Who’d you hear it from?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Berger responded.

“Exactly!” Williams said. “So it’s not credible.”

The moment wasn’t heated. There was no finger-pointing, no yelling. But it was an interesting one nonetheless: a reporter, who cited an unnamed source in a story about a player (or, in this case, a “person with knowledge of the conversations”), was asked about that source by a player. When he wouldn’t reveal it, it seemingly proved a point to that player: that reports from “anonymous sources” with “knowledge of the situation” are not to be trusted.

Watch video of the first time Deron Williams met Ken Berger here: