Monday on his ESPN show, Jim Rome pronounced L.A. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak’s name wrong five times. Rome pronounced it “Kupcheck” instead of “Kupchak.” Rome should know better. The worst thing about it is that Rome is based in L.A and Kupchak has been the GM of the Lakers for 9 seasons now.
This is also Kupchak’s third NBA championship, winning the first two as a player, first with the Washington Bullets in 1978, and then with the Lakers in 1985. (Kupchak was also on the 1982 Lakers who went on to win the title but only played in 27 games due to injuries).
I know it’s easy to pick on sportscasters for individual mistakes, but this is a bad one. Either Rome didn’t know how to pronounce Kupchak’s name or he read it off the teleprompter and didn’t correct the mistake of the writer. And either way, it’s not too good.
Kupchak averaged 16 points a game for the 1978 Bullets in just 26 minutes per game. Kupchak was also an All-American in college, and won a gold medal for the U.S. in 1976. He was a solid all-around player who worked hard and dove on the floor for loose balls.
How about some respect for those Bullets, who had two of the greatest 50 players of all-time – Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, plus Bobby Dandridge, a great small forward?
Continuing on the subject of mistakes, the same day Sage Steele of ESPN said that the Lakers’ win was the first time an NBA team won the title after losing it the previous year. Not true – in 1979, Seattle beat the Bullets after losing to them the previous season. Part of the blame has to go to the writers on that one, though, if she didn’t write it.
Contrary to popular belief, the NBA didn’t begin with Michael, Magic, and Larry. Let’s get things right and also have some respect for the 1978 NBA champion Washington Bullets.
Mike's Blog 