ESPN has come under fire after showing an AI-doctored image of San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker during their NBA Finals coverage on Wednesday night.
Before cutting to a commercial break in the second half of Game 1 between the Spurs and the New York Knicks, the network displayed a famous photo of Parker sitting on the court in a racing jacket surrounded by confetti after San Antonio’s NBA Championship win in 2003.
However, fans quickly noticed that something was off.
In ESPN’s image, a beaming Parker has a huge smile on his face while posing for the camera, which is not the case in the original snap from 23 years ago.
And to further confirm that it has been edited with AI, the four-time NBA champion and six-time All-Star is also wagging his finger up and down.
A number of users on social media hit out at ESPN for using a fake image of Parker rather than the original, including one who asked: ‘What’s so hard about using the same picture?’
ESPN has come under fire after showing an AI-doctored image of San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker (left), which was originally taken after their 2003 NBA Championship win (right)
Parker won four NBA Championships and became a six-time All-Star while in San Antonio
‘I still can’t believe they did this s*** the ai version looks horrific,’ said another.
A third put: ‘Lol it’s so much worse in motion. Who reviewed this and didn’t have the balls to say “this is creepy as f*** and also dumb waste of time”?’
‘Such a weird moment. I get using AI to touch up some old pics/footage, but how does something this obviously face altering slip through?’ wrote a fourth.
While another fan admitted: ‘Bro it scared the hell out of me’.
One user also pulled up clips of ESPN using other AI-edited images on their broadcast, which included animated shots of the likes of Kobe Bryant, Ron Harper, Bill Russell and Scottie Pippen.
After fans were left baffled by ESPN’s choice of photos, the Knicks went on to seal a stunning 105-95 victory in San Antonio.
Jalen Brunson and Co. trailed by 14 points at one stage of the game, before a remarkable second-half rally saw them come from behind to draw first blood in the Finals.
