Wolves announcer Michael Grady tips cap after falling for fake report on live TV

Getting fooled by fake NBA insider accounts on social media has become a right of passage for the world's biggest sports talking heads, and no one is doing it better than NBACentel.

The X account NBACentel resembles the real breaking news account NBACentral so much that its racked up 585,000 followers and is routinely cited as fact when, in fact, everything it posts is fiction. The latest victim of the account's fake reports is Minnesota Timberwolves television announcer Michael Grady.

During the Timberwolves-Pacers game Monday night, Grady and analyst Jim Petersen were discussing Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff publicly criticizing the officials after a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Here's how he got Centel'd.

"You saw the J.B. Bickerstaff postgame presser?" Grady said.

"That was epic," Petersen responded.

Grady added: "Fined $100,000 by the NBA today."

Oops! That's not true. Bickerstaff has not been fined by the NBA. The only report saying he was fined $100,000 came from NBACentel earlier in the day, when it misled the public by saying Bickerstaff was fined for "publicly criticizing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander."

The fake report looks even more real because a spoof account of NBA insider Chris B. Haynes was tagged. Alas, @ChrisBHayne is not the same as the real reporter, who goes by @ChrisBHaynes on X.