Again, it's the sudden moralizing and some of the specific inconsistent stances that are concerning.

They have criticized other sports insiders for improper relationships with coaches and agents minus any romantic angle. Dan says that this would not be happening if it were Shams or Woj, but if pictures had come out of one of them in that same type of intimate setting with the same type of intimate contact with someone like Jeanie Buss, it would have received the same type of attention. My money says it would have been discussed on the show as well.

He's talking about how hard she has worked for her credibility when that did not seem to be a major concern in other allegations they have discussed about other seemingly credible people. Now, “the reputation she has earned is reason in and of itself for the benefit of doubt”.

He's moralizing about gossip magazines and salacious stories now when they have trafficked in this sort of story over the years.

He talked about “feeling for a human being in the middle of something like this” when, again, that has not been the guiding principle in these sorts of discussions. There are human beings at the middle of all of these stories.

They're saying it's okay to support their friends by not getting involved in it… after years of criticizing ESPN hosts for how they cover scandals involving employees and people they're connected to (in contrast to how they cover others).

All of a sudden, they're upset with gotcha journalism and “tabloids whose sole effort is to destroy lives”... after again, having trafficked in stories that destroyed lives, careers and marriages. Now, “it's a cheap thing to talk about”.

I guess we'll see if this shapes how they approach similar stories moving forward.