ESPN wildly disrespects Duke's Sion James with inexcusable mistake

Former Duke basketball veteran guard Sion James was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 33rd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, joining Kon Knueppel, who was selected fourth overall by Charlotte, as the second Blue Devil taken by the franchise in this draft. However, ESPN made a crucial mistake during James' pick, showing someone on screen that...wasn't him.

Nope, that's Brice Williams from Nebraska.

As ESPN was showing the Hornets' four draft picks thus far, the network put up a completely different prospect, sparking outrage for disrupting James' draft moment.

While the graphic on the screen is incorrect, there's no doubt that the Hornets potentially just got the steal of this entire draft after taking the fifth-year guard out of Durham. James is an elite perimeter defender, is built like a linebacker at 6'6 and 220 pounds, and rarely makes mistakes.

The Hornets clearly have a plan here, drafting two prospects out of Duke who never misread plays, are always making the right decisions, and make themselves available at all parts of the floor.

What James will bring to this Charlotte team is the prototypical guard a playoff team wants coming off the bench. The former Tulane Green Wave brings instant energy and physical defense as a prospect able to guard multiple positions on the floor. He can lead the break in transition while always knowing when to give it up or take it to the rim himself offensively as well.

But the most underrated part of James' game might be his passing. The Georgia native always makes the right call and rarely turns the ball over. In his lone season with the Blue Devils, James totaled 115 assists to just 47 turnovers.

The Hornets are molding what seems to be a painfully obvious draft scheme, taking two in-state products, both of which can help this young core win from day one.

And as an early second round selection, James will likely earn a guaranteed contract as opposed to a two-way deal with Charlotte.

Although ESPN may have slightly messed up the moment on-screen as James saw his NBA dreams come true, he's still ready to come in and bolster this Charlotte defense right away.