How we report
Sources, in tiers
- Official — the league, the teams, the official injury report, official box scores and standings. Facts.
- Reliable — established national reporters and local beat writers with a public track record. Reported as facts, with attribution.
- Rumor — reports of interest, talks or possibilities. Always labeled, always attributed, never presented as done.
- Analysis — our own reading of the numbers. Labeled as such.
Every rumor we publish is logged with its source and date and is later closed as confirmed, denied or expired. Those outcomes feed a public accuracy record for each insider, so a "reliable" label is something we measure, not something we assume.
Data before words
Any number that appears in a piece — a score, a stat line, a contract figure, a seed — must match our database at the time of publishing. Pieces that fail that check are not published. Where a figure is an estimate (for example an expected return date from an injury model), we say so.
How the writing is produced
Text and audio on Hoops Nightly are produced by the team desks with the newsroom's writing system, from the data and sources described above and from nothing else. A human editor sets the rules, reads a daily sample of what is published, reviews every rejection the system logs and every reader report, and is responsible for the result. The system is not used to invent facts, quotes or sources; a piece may only say what its data and sources support. Shows are voiced by two roles, the host and the analyst, who are not people and portray none. The full method, with refresh times and rules, is on the newsroom page.
What we do not do
- We do not republish other outlets' articles. We link to them and quote briefly.
- We do not use game footage, broadcast frames or unlicensed photographs.
- We do not publish betting picks or odds at this time.
- We do not run anonymous "sources say" claims of our own. Attribution is to a named reporter or an official source.
Corrections
When we get something wrong we fix it, mark the correction on the page, and record it on the corrections page. Tell us at [email protected].
Independence and affiliate links
Some links — to ticket marketplaces, streaming services or merchandise — may be affiliate links that earn us a commission at no cost to you. They never influence what we cover or how. Sponsored content, if we ever run it, will be labeled as such.