Adrian Wojnarowski is paid big bucks by ESPN for his ability to break NBA news, seemingly at all costs.
However, Wojnarowski’s tweet revealing the college commitment of five-star high school prospect Dylan Harper, which spoiled Harper’s own live announcement in New York City, earned the longtime insider some blowback on Wednesday.
Moments before Harper, the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2024 class, was set to unveil his decision, Wojnarowski tweeted that the Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep product was staying home and becoming the highest-ranked recruit to ever commit to Rutgers men’s basketball.
“Harper is making public that decision at the @Fanatics offices in New York shortly,” Wojnarowski included in his tweet, acknowledging he was “scooping” the teenager.
Ron Harper Jr., a former Rutgers star and current two-way player for the Toronto Raptors, as well as Dylan’s older brother, let it be known on X/Twitter that he felt what Woj did was “lame af.”
Lame af man… smh https://t.co/2INX0UiHDS
— Ron Harper Jr. (@__RHJR) December 6, 2023
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Again, Wojnarowski is the best in the business–along with his rival Shams Charania–at uncovering and reporting information on the NBA.
But Harper’s commitment, no matter how historic for Rutgers, is not LeBron James or Kevin Durant signing somewhere in free agency. What does Wojnarowski really gain by getting the info out there a couple of minutes beforehand? And whatever it is, is it worth looking potentially less than scrupulous for?
Guess so.