Neil Dalal did what all sports observers do, and now he won’t be able to cover the Washington Wizards in-person anymore.
Following a snafu between Dalal and the Wizards that reached starting point guard Tyus Jones over him not being included on a promotional billboard put up by the team, Washington has revoked Dalal’s press credential.
He explained more in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
“Last month, I tweeted an observation that I quickly regretted,” Dalal wrote. “I have always strived to be player-friendly, and never meant to offend anyone, but I dropped the ball.”
End of an era 💔 pic.twitter.com/ZeJdFNwm9f
— Neil Dalal (@NeilDalal96) January 26, 2024
Anyone with a keen eye will match up a team’s marketing efforts with its future personnel plans. Dalal is no different as an independent reporter covering the Wizards out of Washington, DC. Earlier this season, Dalal tweeted a photo of a Wizards promotional billboard which did not feature the recently acquired Jones. Given early reports out of Washington after the trade indicated the team planned to sign Jones long-term, his absence from the billboard was noteworthy.
Jones would later retweet the post, according to Wizards fans online.
Wiz put up a billboard with no Tyus in it. Neil pointed it out and Tyus retweeted with 😳 and that was it
— Domo (@Domo8186) January 26, 2024
Given the team itself was responsible for the billboard, punishing Dalal for talking about it is pretty silly.
The Wizards recently left their deal with NBC Sports, which axed full-time, external coverage of their team. In its place, team governor Ted Leonsis launched Monumental Sports Network, which is run in-house by his company, Monumental Sports & Entertainment. The network has already reportedly exerted influence over coverage of the team.
While The Athletic and Washington Post still have full-time Wizards writers, the team has not made it past the first round of the playoffs in nearly a decade. The Wizards are, controversially, likely to move to northern Virginia in the coming years.
So it’s no surprise the Wizards are paranoid. But banning reporters is only going to bring more negative attention.
