ESPN trades integrity for access

If the Texas Rangers keep up their pace and advance to their third consecutive World Series, and team owner Nolan Ryan was brought on as a series analyst, Fox Sports would be subject to questions of fairness.

If I had lunch with Curry County Cats coach and owner Paul Lopez, and I struck a deal for partial ownership of the semipro football team, Clovis Media Inc. would certainly face fairness questions if I covered their games.

If Vice President Joe Biden was brought on as an MSNBC election analyst, somebody would raise an eyebrow.

These are all obvious examples. I'm not sure why it's so convoluted over at ESPN.

On page 8 of the Los Angeles Lakers media guide is a bio of former player and current Vice President Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

"In his current capacity," the bio reads, "Earvin is actively involved in various management areas which include working with (Lakers General Manager) Mitch Kupchak on player-related issues and overseeing various marketing and public relations functions."

Turns out ESPN has an NBA analyst by the same name. Friday night on NBA Countdown, that analyst was asked about what would happen if the Lakers lost their first-round series to the Denver Nuggets.

"They're going to run Mike Brown first out of town," Johnson said. "Then second will be (center Andrew) Bynum. Then third will be (center Pau) Gasol."

And then people jumped to conclusions that the Lakers might fire Brown and trade key players ... you know, because somebody who's "actively involved" with Lakers management and player/coach decisions said so.

The Lakers released a statement the next day, noting that Johnson was giving his opinion as an analyst and not speaking on behalf of the team, who was fully committed to Brown. The issue resolved itself on the court, anyway; the Lakers won the series, and Brown is coaching the Lakers in their Western Conference semifinal series against Oklahoma City.

ESPN personalities discussed the matter throughout the days following, but noticeably absent from the conversation was the network's decision to bring Johnson aboard in the first place.

This weekend isn't an isolated incident, but the latest reminder of an inherent conflict created when a league analyst works for one of the league's teams. But given that Johnson's been the one to interview Lakers players and coaches, ESPN will stay willfully ignorant as long as there's constant access to the Lakers.

This isn't all on ESPN, though. The Lakers could resolve the issue as well, but they lose credibility when Johnson has a glowing interview with Lakers star Kobe Bryant and pretends it's not a Laker-to-Laker conversation.

This would be an easy fix if either ESPN or the Lakers made an ultimatum: "Magic, the Lakers want you to be a great vice president and ESPN wants you to be a great independent analyst. You can't be both."

Something tells me I have a better chance of being the next Lakers coach than seeing that happen.

Kevin Wilson is a columnist for Clovis Media Inc. He can be contacted at 763-3431, ext. 313, or by email:

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