Phoenix Suns C Jermaine O'Neal emphatically denies altercation with GM Blanks

Innuendo and "inside knowledge" aside, it appears that people in a frenzy to report juicy gossip from across the globe set themselves up for rebuke.

Originally reported by NBA insider extraordinaire, Adrian Wojnarowski, there was a heated altercation that was "really bad" outside the Suns locker room between C Jermaine O'Neal and GM Lance Blanks. Folks used conjecture to determine the nature of the argument, coincidentally juicing up the story in the process.

Phoenix Suns center Jermaine O'Neal and general manager Lance Blanks engaged in a blistering, expletive-laced confrontation in the coach's office on Monday, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

"It was really bad," one Suns source said Tuesday afternoon.

The confrontation happened after interim coach Lindsey Hunter's first practice and unfolded within earshot of several Suns players in the locker room, sources said. Initially, O'Neal had expressed disappointment that his veteran stature hadn't dictated the front office turning to him for counsel in the recent coaching change, a league source told Y! Sports. When O'Neal kept challenging Blanks, the discussion started to become an argument and ultimately a screaming match.

Jermaine O'Neal responded vehemently tonight via twitter.

So there's a mole in the Suns front office feeding things to insiders several thousand miles away. Woj has great sources, so it's likely the two men had some kind of discussion that was overheard by someone who wanted more and more stuff leaked to the media and chose this opportunity to do it.

What actually happened between O'Neal and Blanks is still up in the air, but it sure appears that maybe someone stepped a little too lively over their bounds.