We wondered, leading up to Thursday night’s NBA Draft, whether ESPN would address the elephant in the room, acknowledging the controversy surrounding Alabama forward Brandon Miller, whose role in a murder investigation dominated the news cycle for weeks on end.
Cleared of wrongdoing, Miller was not charged with any crime. However, his proximity to teammate Darius Miles on the night Jamea Jonae Harris was fatally shot (the alleged murder weapon, which belonged to Miles, was retrieved from Miller’s car hours earlier) raised questions, casting a dark cloud over Alabama’s March Madness run.
Obviously, the Charlotte Hornets, who drafted Miller with the second overall pick, weren’t concerned about it, though it felt like only a matter of time until someone on ESPN’s panel brought it up. That someone turned out to be Malika Andrews, who mentioned the scandal in passing during Thursday night’s broadcast.
Malika Andrews is like an encyclopedia of negativity pic.twitter.com/gUua1FLGod
— FlightMike (Mikerophone) (@TheFlightMike) June 22, 2023
Andrews would later become the subject of harsh online criticism, with many viewers feeling it was unnecessary to pick at that scab, rehashing a painful incident from Miller’s past that, by all accounts, wasn’t his fault.
Malika Andrews is such a weirdo for bringing that up on Brandon Miller special night
pic.twitter.com/0taAnb3rlL— KiLBJJ ʰᶦᵐ (@KiLBJJ) June 23, 2023
Not Malika Andrews bringing up the criminal case of 2 men, two men who ARE NOT, Brandon Miller.
She's playing the game of "name association", hoping that whenever ppl hear the names of the 2 men on trial, they'll associate, Miller, with them.
This roach is evil & must be stopped! pic.twitter.com/zDg6ACaDiU— Cₕₑᵣₑₗₗₑ bₑ ₜₐₗₖᵢₙ ₛₕᵢₜ! (@DFiosa) June 23, 2023
Malika Andrews quite literally bringing up Brandon Miller's name in a murder case minutes before the NBA Draft for no reason.
— Hector Bomb (@EMFres1) June 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/StephCurryGoat/status/1672057834542882817
Of course, the counterargument would be that Andrews, as a credentialed reporter, had a journalistic responsibility to broach the subject in at least some capacity. It’s also not fair to single her out when ABC devoted just as much coverage to it, presenting the following graphic with a detailed explanation from Kevin Negandhi.
It should be noted that, unlike Neghandi, Andrews’ comments were made during the pre-draft show and not during the actual event. That detail may seem trivial, though it’s an important distinction, with Andrews careful not to spoil Miller’s “moment.”
Miller doesn’t have to let this experience define him and neither does ESPN, though sweeping it under the rug would have been disingenuous, ignoring a story that arguably shaped the 2022-23 college basketball season.
