‘SportsCenter’ X account deletes sports icon graphic following backlash

ESPN probably should have known better.

You’d have thought Bleacher Report proved to everyone why you should be wary of posting a social media graphic meant to be all-encompassing. Their infamous graphic promoting the 2019 World Cup, which included Oprah, Tom Cruise, Miley Cyrus, and the cast of Friends, lives on as shorthand for “WTF were they thinking?”

While not exactly the same, the SportsCenter X account posted a graphic on Thursday as part of the all-out promotion for their new direct-to-consumer service.

“All the icons. All the moments. All of ESPN. All in one place,” the graphic read.

The graphic, which bore a resemblance to the memified Bleacher Report one, didn’t include celebrities or fictional characters. However, certain eagle-eyed (and presumably bad-faith) observers noticed a few things about it that they didn’t like.

SportsCenter got bullied into deleting their graphic of “all the icons” that consisted of:

• 11 WNBA players
• 10 NFL players
• 5 College Football players

😭🗑️ pic.twitter.com/yMU52VfWyK

— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) August 22, 2025

Chief among them was the purported inclusion (we’re not gonna sit here and count) of 11 WNBA players, which is more than the number of NFL players (10) and college football players (5). Something else that didn’t escape notice was the lack of Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world. There were also only two MLB players included.

While some bad-faith observers would infer that ESPN is “going woke” or trying to push some agenda, the reality is that the graphic designer was likely instructed to focus on leagues and sports in which ESPN has a significant stake in broadcasting and promoting. Since the graphic was meant to promote ESPN’s DTC service specifically, they likely overindexed on the athletes and personalities you’d find when you actually use it in the near future. That’s a big part of why people like Manning Brothers and Brian Windhorst are front and center, and Monica McNutt and Mina Kimes are included.

Also, ESPN does indeed broadcast early-round coverage of the Masters and PGA Championship, but the sport is not likely to be top of mind compared to football and basketball, two sports ESPN is heavily invested in.

And even then, we’re probably giving way too much credit for how much time was really put into thinking about this.

That said, given the current climate and the loudness of those who want to find reasons to lambast WNBA players and female ESPN talent, someone probably should have stepped in before it was published and asked if this kind of reaction was likely, especially if they weren’t willing to weather the storm and keep it up.

The other error was accompanying the graphic with “all the icons,” which was the real recipe for disaster. Once you’re throwing out that disclaimer, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

In the end, it was a silly graphic that bad-faith folks took too seriously to gin up some “ESPN gone woke” complaints. But they might have done the Worldwide Leader a favor by getting it deleted before Pat McAfee saw he was tucked away in the tippy-top corner. Lord knows how much he would have complained about that.