When you talk sports for a living, it’s inevitable that the occasional bad take is going to come out. After all, nobody bats 1.000, and in many ways, the sports world is difficult to predict. What’s much rarer is someone who actually owns up to it. All the time, we see guys like Skip Bayless doubling and tripling down on bad takes, but CBS Sports’ Ashley Nicole Moss became the exception to the rule on Sunday when she admonished herself on X for a wild prediction that Anthony Davis, whom the Mavericks just acquired in exchange for Luka Doncic, could be flipped for Jimmy Butler before the NBA trade deadline.
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yeah, this take is trash https://t.co/w7p2F2OJOF
— Ashley Nicole Moss (@AshNicoleMoss) February 3, 2025
“I’d be interested if Anthony Davis is a piece that, ultimately, the Mavericks potentially use to try to get Jimmy Butler.”
Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has already come out and said that the team specifically went after Davis for his defensive ability and how that would allow them to compete with the other top teams in the Western Conference. Butler is known as a solid defender too, but not at Davis’ level, plus his value is cratered because of his ongoing antics in Miami and openness about wanting an extension. If Dallas was already getting pilloried for “only” getting the 31-year-old Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick for Luka, imagine how negative the response would be if they then turned AD into the 35-year-old Butler and all of his baggage.
The Heat have been desperately shopping Butler before the deadline, and would undoubtedly do backflips if they could land someone like Davis, but there’s no way that’s going to happen.
Moss was good-natured and self-deprecating about the bad take, and she even hit herself with the trash can emoji before explaining that she was exhausted and hadn’t slept after an early morning flight.
Ashley Nicole Moss earned people’s respect by admitting she was wrong
Sports fans can be known to pile on, especially when they’re online, but Moss’ humility helped to quickly defuse the situation. Commenters were quick to praise her for owning up to her mistake, with many offering words of encouragement like, “That’s dope for you to acknowledge a bad take,” and, “We’ll pretend this never happened.”
Having to give a smart, nuanced take on TV in the immediate aftermath of the most shocking trade in NBA history is a lot harder than it sounds, especially when you’re running on no sleep. The Luka-AD trade blew everybody’s minds, and people are still sorting out their feelings about it two days later. Moss was far from the only one to say something about the deal that wasn’t well-considered. As far as we can tell, she might be the only one to step up and admit it. Honestly, the world of sports media needs more of this.
