There’s often a lot of misinformation out there on social media sites like X/Twitter. It’s particularly problematic when that misinformation gets relayed as real by legitimate media sources. The latest case in point here came from The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York and YES Friday, where Kay and fellow co-hosts Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg reacted to the New York Knicks’ second-round NBA selection of Marquette guard Tyler Kolec with discussion about him apparently getting a seven (out of 50, with 20 supposedly indicating average intelligence) on the Wonderlic test. As Funhouse noted on X/Twitter, that’s not close to true:
Michael Kay and his pals fell for a bogus story that new #Knicks guard Tyler Kolek cannot read and he got a 7 on the Wonderlic test.
NBA prospects do not take the Wonderlic test, and Kolek is quite good at reading. This nonsense was debunked four months ago. Great job, fellas. pic.twitter.com/HdgmYkYX2T
— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) June 29, 2024
“Knicks are sending the Blazers future second-round picks for Tyler Kolek at 34, according to a source. Is that the kid with the Wonderlic test?” Kay asked. “What, the one who got a seven or something?” La Greca responded. “Yes,” Kay said, and Rosenberg said “I believe that’s him.” Kay then said “Terrible thing that this would be leaked, but they say, like, he couldn’t read.” La Greca said “Yeah, that’s not good.”
This “report” on Kolek’s supposed illiteracy has been circulating for months. This started as a Providence College Burner Community joke in December, as chronicled by Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports in March. And Kolek himself made fun of it in December, posting his grades (with a 3.934 GPA):
I just learned how to read 🥲 https://t.co/h3hJCtkg8R pic.twitter.com/bRxQZhbr1o
— Tyler Kolek (@KolekTyler) December 19, 2023
But this has drawn further attention since then. And one account that’s really sparked is was fake reporter @S_CharlesNFL on X/Twitter. That “Simon Charles” account, whose bio is “Esteemed sports journalist & Patriots Beat Writer Double PHD in Journalism & Female Anatomy,” posted about this in February, and drew a “Kick rocks” response from Marquette compliance official Danielle Josetti:
As the senior compliance person at Marquette I can tell you this is unequivocally not true. This is neither funny, nor appropriate. Kick rocks. https://t.co/ISXPSdGB1b
— Danielle Josetti (@DanielleJosetti) February 28, 2024
Undeterred, the “Charles” account posted on this again this week:
#BREAKING: NBA Scouts expect Marquette guard Tyler Kolek to go undrafted after he recorded only a 7% on his Wonderlic IQ test…
Reports surfaced earlier this year that Kolek couldn’t read and now his wonderlic score is the lowest by any NBA player ever recorded pic.twitter.com/XJjTFGU7JP
— Simon Charles (@S_CharlesNFL) June 26, 2024
And despite the Community Notes now attached to that tweet, it went all over the place, including to some websites and message boards. And many others repeated that “Charles” claim on X/Twitter. It’s unclear where specifically Kay and his cohosts saw this, but the claim has been seen in many places.
There are definitely challenges with evaluating sources quickly while on air. And Kay, La Greca, and Rosenberg are far from the first to get something wrong there; many have been fooled by fake reporter accounts in the past (including by “Charles”). But this Wonderlic claim definitely should have drawn some skepticism, considering how that’s not a test usually used for NBA prospects and how many issues there have been around test score leaking in the NFL in the past. Instead, it served as a reminder of how much there is out there that just isn’t true.
[Funhouse on X/Twitter]
