The Twitter world was abuzz earlier today after ESPN writer Chris Broussard supposedly tweeted that Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo had been traded to the Sacramento Kings for Tyreke Evans.
Broussard reported that Rondo, the star playmaker who helped lead Boston to the Eastern Conference Finals, had been traded along with the 21st and 22nd picks of the upcoming NBA draft for Evans, a former Rookie of the Year, and the Kings’ fifth overall pick.
But upon closer inspection, it turned out the tweet was done by a certain Chris Brousard (only one “s”), and not Broussard the ESPN analyst.
Brousard’s Twitter account does carry a disclaimer stating that he is “NOT ESPN writer covering the NBA…Parody”, and the rather low number of followers he had (197) should have already been a red flag, but thousands of Celtics fans were still misled by the bogus report.
(Spot the difference between Chris Brousard's Twitter account and Chris Broussard's Twitter account.)
Things got so out of hand that the real Broussard had to issue a tweet to clarify things. “There’s a Chris Brousard posting fake stuff…my name is spelled with two SS’s not one.”
Among the other fake stuff Brousard reported included news about Celtics guard Ray Allen meeting with New York Knicks owner James Dolan for a possible contract, and Miami Heat stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh suffering injuries and being questionable for Game 1 of the recently-concluded NBA Finals.
But it was the Rondo trade that caused the greatest commotion, with people taking it as gospel truth and retweeting it. Soon Rondo was trending worldwide, and one person even said Celtics president Danny Ainge had received death threats because of the fake trade.
When people finally realized they had been duped, several threatening messages were posted on Brousard’s Twitter page.
Brousard gladly took it all in, and even boldly tweeted, "Dear Twitter, you just got OWNED!!! Signed, Chris Brousard, with one ‘s’.”
