Apparently, every prominent NBA locker room is in shambles. Within the last two weeks, ESPN staffers have reported strife amongst players of the Spurs, Cavs, and Blazers. Players are upset, coaches are on the hot seat, and fans are anxious. The self-proclaimed “worldwide leader in sports” is making it their niche to tell us that the sky is falling, even when it’s far from the truth.

They love to release details of team meetings, where players air out grievances and openly criticize one another. As Boston Celtics head coach, Brad Stevens, said “it happens all the time”. He heard about the Cleveland controversy and decided it was pedestrian. What is unique about these stories is the mystique, there are no names for the sources. We get what is delivered as a firsthand account, with thirdhand ownership, like the story on Kawhi nad the Spurs.

The quiet star, Kawhi Leonard, is rumored to be at odds with the San Antonio Spurs organization.

Kawhi has spent most of this season rehabbing the quad injury that initially took him out of last season’s playoffs. It is weird that a player of his caliber hasn’t received more coverage to this point. Then, ESPN released a column indicating that he was frustrated with the organizations’s handling of the situation. For whatever reason, they never really got any solid quotes or confirmation that this thing is real (not that Kawhi talks much anyway). Instead, the piece reads as a rehash on the timeline of Kawhi’s injury. That would be fine, if the leading headline on the website didn’t imply that this man was on the verge of demanding a trade.

This is ESPN’s model now. The top headlines focus on drama as opposed to things that anybody can confirm happened in a game. They recently did a similar story on dissension within the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room. The Cavs have been struggling lately (as anyone can see), and the top headline on their website was about how players on the team had doubts about their chances of improving enough to win a championship. In a league with 30 teams that play 82 games apiece, I’m sure everyone experiences a small period of doubt. So how is that special? Is that significant enough to be a leading headline for a company like ESPN?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are rumored to have some major disagreements by ESPN's NBA writers.

The shameful answer is yes, because they have tied themselves to click-bait headlines, anonymous quotes, silly tweets, then hours of analysis on those same items. That is why the new site has endless scroll, and one tap of the page down button will take you to the latest clip of Max Kellerman and Stephen A. Smith screaming at each other on First Take. The days remaining shows will bring in the reporter like Brian Windhorst or Nick Friedell to share their expertise, or the lastest scoop from their sources. The primary thing they debate are those quotes, tweets, and headlines that the company stirs up in-house to begin with.

I guess they need the drama, as it likely drives ratings. But it does seem to have come at the cost of real analysis on games, and how roster or plays came together step-by-step. Those were the things that drew me to sports media as a kid. Seeing people that had played or watched hundreds of games share insight that can only come with experience. If this debate and click-bait culture continues it will only extend the network’s rating and online traffic decline. How long will people tune in to watch “professionals” create conjecture at the same level that we do?