There has been significant criticism surrounding broadcasts for misidentifications, with one of the latest incidents occurring during an ABC broadcast (produced by ESPN) of the Memphis Grizzlies-Oklahoma City Thunder Game 1 NBA playoff clash on Sunday afternoon. The broadcast involved an extensive discussion about an injury to Memphis forward Jaylen Wells, followed by two zoom-ins on a figure in the stands. Given the context, viewers would likely assume the person featured was Wells, but it turned out to be inactive Grizzlies’ player Zyon Pullin.
During a conversation on Grizzlies’ forward Jaylen Wells’ injury, ABC’s broadcast zoomed in on his teammate Zyon Pullin. pic.twitter.com/V6zF2jJ0dk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2025
Later that same day, Wells himself reacted to a shorter clip of the incident on X:
— Jaylen Wells (@jaylen_wells) April 20, 2025
While there’s much scrutiny on announcers during such moments, the blame in this instance may lie more with the camera operators and production team than the announcers themselves. Broadcasters Dave Pasch and Tim Legler never explicitly stated “There’s Wells”; their discussion about Wells coincidentally aligned with the close-up shot, leading to a reasonable but incorrect inference from viewers. This suggests that the onus may be more on the production crew.
Regardless, the final product was certainly not ideal. The broadcast team could argue that “nothing here ever affirmatively claimed this was Wells,” yet the presentation of Pullin, especially with the repeated zoom, misleadingly implied that he was the subject of the announcers’ discussion. This misrepresentation likely contributed to Wells’ reaction.
