Fans react to SportsCenter broadcast's blunder with Ace Bailey and Cooper Flagg: “How embarrassing”

ESPN SportsCenter committed a blunder that went viral on social media before the start of the 2025 NBA draft on Wednesday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan pointed out to viewers at home that No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg was posing for pictures on the red carpet, but the cameraman showed Rutgers guard-forward Ace Bailey instead.

"Welcome back to SportsCenter, you're looking at Cooper Flagg and in just over an hour from now—" Duncan said. "That is not Cooper Flagg at all, actually. That is quite famously Ace Bailey."

The show then tried to present Cooper Flagg on the screen during the pre-draft broadcast, but the cameraman captured Bailey's teammate and No. 2 pick, Dylan Harper.

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Fans reacted to the gaffe on X.

"How embarrassing," one fan wrote.

Oddly enough, Elle Duncan and Ace Bailey attended the same school at McEachern High.

Cooper Flagg went on to be picked No. 1 by the Dallas Mavericks, while Dylan Harper was picked second by the San Antonio Spurs. Ace Bailey went to the Utah Jazz as the fifth pick.

Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey hope to continue their basketball journeys in the NBA

Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey were arguably the three best players that came out of the Class of 2025.

The trio generated plenty of chatter during the 2024-25 season, as they were the faces of NCAA basketball aside from Baylor's VJ Edgecombe and Florida's Walter Clayton Jr.

Flagg may have been the most successful among the three due to his excellent stint at Duke that earned him a college basketball Player of the Year award and a Final Four entry, but Harper and Bailey had their highlights as well during their run at Rutgers.

Flagg, Harper and Bailey will venture into the league's new generation where power forwards can perform playmaking chores (Nikola Jokic) and centers can shoot from long range (Victor Wembanyama).

Of course, the old guard still lurks in the midst (LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and James Harden), but it's up to the trio to step up and take the lead as the NBA's newest stars.

About the author

Geoffrey Latayan is a journalist who covers college basketball at Sportskeeda. An AB Communication graduate from De La Salle Lipa, he is an avid sports fan who follows college basketball, MLB, NBA and pro wrestling.

As a writer, he's adept at stats and previously covered college sports in the Philippines. Geoff has interviewed former NBA star Detlef Schrempf, although it was way before the "sportsblog" era.

Geoff believes the gap between College sports and major leagues has narrowed thanks to the new stars of the sport, who can give the pro leagues a run for their money.

His favorite college players of all time are Michael Jordan and Allan Iverson. In fact, the Jordan admiration extended to North Carolina becoming his favorite college team as well. Geoff rates Carmelo Anthony winning the national title for Syracuse as his favorite College Sports moment and he is also a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia 76ers fan.

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Edited by Geoff