“Sources.”

No one earns more credit or deserves more blame when sports news spreads throughout the athletic universe.

No one has the inside scoop as often.

The man of mystery is responsible for breaking news and, sometimes, for faking news.

One thing is for sure: He’s always near the action and at the center of attention.

But just who is “Sources”?

“Sources” told The Lantern in December 2009 that Evan Turner would return from his back injury three weeks earlier than expected, which he did.

“Sources” told Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears early Thursday morning that the Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to a swap of overpaid point guards, sending Mo Williams to the Los Angeles Clippers for Baron Davis. Hours later, the teams confirmed the trade.

But “Sources” also provided conflicting reports to a number of outlets regarding the supposed boycott of practice Detroit Pistons players arranged Friday. “Sources” told the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News that the players skipped their morning shootaround in protest of coach John Kuester. But “Sources” told ESPN’s Ric Bucher on Saturday that every player but guard Richard Hamilton had an excused absence and terming it a boycott was overblowing the situation.

Is “Sources” just playing games with the media?

How does this guy maintain such a low profile?

“Sources” seems to have better relationships with more established reporters. He and Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski must have been on the phone all day Thursday, as the NBA writer reported deal after deal leading up to the 3 p.m. trade deadline.

But “Sources” either has a low selling price or some reporters pretend to know him better than they really do, as more and more reporters cite him as their supplier of inside information.

Who are “Sources'” sources?

Everyone seems to know the man, everyone lists him as the broker of details, yet we know nothing about him.