I wasn't implying anything. I responded to, "if there is smoke, then there is fire." In that case, the smoke is the "reports" which would make the fire the mob of "reporters" that create the "reports" that are the smoke.
What I'm saying is that usually the fire behind the smoke of "reports" is more often than not just the mob of "reporters" all parroting the same speculations. "Reporters," especially the ones that self-publish through the internet have an intense FOMO of missing out on the views and clicks of a story.
Since most of those "reporters" aren't able to get either a confirmation or denial directly from the team, they instead choose to just repeat the speculation. They don't do actual journalism to earn a living, they gossip on the internet to earn a living. They're basically a sports only version of Coffee Talk on the internet instead of on a local cable access channel.