Twitter Beef
The NBA off-season is a spectacle of its own in the summer months. Between the highly anticipated and overly broadcast NBA Draft and Kevin Durant's Instagram feuds with teenagers, plenty of stories and entertainment consume the average fan. At the center of it all is the multi-billion dollar social media platform Twitter.
Twitter allowed the average person to absorb more information faster than ever before, allowing the NBA media to release breaking news at an unprecedented level. The NBA embraced Twitter and created an environment where players interact with fans and media more casually and frequently. NBA Twitter culture is diverse, even expanding to other websites like Reddit, with most interactions transform into a never-ending stream of banter between the sports' biggest fans. In addition, the NBA allowed its players to become more outspoken. Encouraging them to speak on social issues and pop culture topics, a stark contrast to other American sports leagues. As a result, the NBA set a precedent for entertainment companies balancing their players' personal agendas and social image. The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver led the NBA into a new era of popularity, rivaling the NFL in views and overall media presence. Silver backed his players on social issues and became more relatable to the audience because of his awareness of social problems and NBA culture.
Yesterday Was A Real Burner
With over 100 million NBA-related tweets, the NBA is the most tweeted about sports league, according to Twitter. It isn't uncommon these days for an NBA player to be extremely active on Twitter. Most notably, Kevin Durant recently made a name for himself on Twitter and among the NBA's most ingrained followers by posting a detailed rant criticizing his former coach, Billy Donovan. However, it didn't seem like that was meant for his account because he referred to himself in the third person, which many inquired was supposed to be for a burner (fake) account he had set up to defend himself on Twitter.
The following week, the media took this story and ran with it, labeling Durant as disingenuous and overly sensitive to criticism. Twitter and the rest of social media blew up. People were posting meme after meme, criticizing and making fun of Durant's inability to ignore people on social media. But while most people were caught up in how this could be bad for the NBA and its players, no one realized this was the main story during a busy NFL season. For a moment, the NBA controlled the headlines in a time where the NFL should be the most popular topic. Twitter, more specifically NBA Twitter culture, changed the dynamic of sports culture and media. Now Twitter can drive the narrative of sports media, and the rest of the media is forced to take a backseat while the stories unfold for everyone to see.
Durant continues his hot streak of roasting current players and high-schoolers on Twitter, but now he (or at least most people think) uses his own account. Durant recently had a war of words with Portland Trailblazers’ guard CJ McCollum after Durant made an appearance on McCollum’s podcast. In one segment, McCollum, like most of the NBA fan base, was confused as to why the Warriors were able to recruit Boogie Cousins to play for them, and after the show tweeted this:
As expected, Durant caught wind of CJ's comment and had a response:
Afterward, in a media session during some USA basketball practices, Durant was asked about the back and forth, and his response was, “Don’t get mad if I’ve got something to say, then catch feelings if I call you out on it. And I’m the sensitive one and I’m insecure?” The exchange between reporters and Durant was dodgy (shout out to all the UK fans) to say the least, but he did give them an honest response. These days it's difficult for superstars to speak their mind because of the criticism it might bring. Either way, Durant is one of few sports stars that feel comfortable speaking his mind, right or wrong, because he already faced worse criticism when he signed with Golden State. Personally, I applaud Durant for giving the fans a fresh breath of air, as opposed to some of the other NBA stars who give the media and fans the same rehearsed answers each time a controversial question is asked.
It Was My Wife
In May 2018, The Ringer, an affiliate to the popular sports media company SB Nation, got a tip from an anonymous source that linked the current (at the time) Philadelphia 76er's General Manger, Bryan Colangelo, to multiple fake Twitter accounts. What was found was these accounts were used as a platform for Bryan Colangelo, or whoever was in control of them, to criticize current NBA players and staff for the 76er's. After news broke, some of the 76er’s players tweeted out calling for Colangelo’s job. Most notably, star player, Joel Embiid, tweeted this:
@AlVic40117560 was sourced as being just one of the possible 56 burner accounts Colangelo used to fire criticism at his players and staff. He would often reply to verified reporters on Twitter so the tweets could receive more views and responses. This specific example was about former 76er's center, Jahlil Okafor, and whether he had passed a team physical, which is private information.
Not only was this unethical, but it was obvious the accounts weren't real people based off of the lack of profile information, obscure and obviously fake profile names, and the lack of tweets about anything other than 76er's basketball. The story dominated the news for weeks after it was originally reported, and the story didn't lose momentum until June 7th when it was reported that Colangelo resigned from the organization and that his wife was in control of the Twitter accounts, despite the fact a third-party legal team deemed Colangelo was the source of the accounts. This situation was new for the NBA. Never had a high-ranking member of an organization publicly released private information about a player’s health and hid behind a fake name to do it. Ultimately, we did not get to see how the NBA would react because Colangelo resigned before they could take action. In the past, these stories would mostly remain behind closed doors until the NBA was ready for the sports news conglomerate to make headlines. Because of Twitter, this story was able to unfold in front of the public.
The Woj Effect
In school, professors always tell their students to never start a paragraph or a statement with a definition because it looks unprofessional. That being said, It may not be possible to continue without a proper definition.
Woj Bomb
Adrian Wojnarowski, commonly referred to as Woj or King of NBA Twitter, has made a name for himself by dropping what was referred to before as Woj Bombs. A Woj bomb can have a multitude of effects on the NBA that can be big or small, and he has begun to form cult-like following on Twitter. It's not the contents of a Woj bomb that are devastating, but the aftermath in the comments of all of the raging NBA fans gurgling about how the NBA is now "broken". Despite the fact that Woj tends to ruin the dreams of lesser known NBA franchises, like my Dallas Mavericks, (because yes, I did think there was a chance we got KD two years ago) he has a fan base that is clamoring for more explosive news for them to argue about with strangers on Twitter. Why would a journalist who is just doing his job have a magical aura about him that has caused him to become the prominent NBA insider? All was revealed on draft night. ESPN (his new employer) was hosting NBA draft coverage and didn't want to be upstaged by their own employee, so they told him that he couldn't spoil any picks on Twitter before the picks were officially announced. His response was truly a masterpiece of expert journalism and trolling of the highest degree.
Woj appealed to his employer and did not spoil any picks. He only twisted the words of his tweets and ambiguously referred to teams and picks. All of his assertions were correct, but he did follow the rules. As the night wore on the adverbs became more elaborate and with every passing tweet the rest of Twitter became more enthralled with Woj's vocabulary and thus creating a whirlpool of new memes.
Woj has broken the mold on what a journalist can be and should be. He has become the star of a show where the networks like ESPN and FOX should be the center of attention. His following on Twitter now reaching upwards of 2 million and that's just scratching the surface.
The NBTA (National Basketball Twitter Association)
Firstly, this is a ranking of NBA players and their social media presence. Secondly, these are all real numbers that I have put together to make this tiered list. In no way, shape, or form are any of these numbers made up (sarcasm). I made a ranking of some popular NBA athletes based off their social media presence and how they use social media. Each tier will have a list of a highlighted player that, I believe, represents that tier of social media usage. Each tier will also feature a few of my favorite tweets of from the player who best represents that specific tier.
This tier represents the upper-echelon of the NBA Twitter and social media users. The basis for this tier is players who seem to live on social media and use Twitter to post their daily thoughts, promote their charities, and communicate with fans. The best example of this tier is Kevin Durant. Durant currently has 17.4 million followers on Twitter and has over 23,000 tweets. Not only does Durant have a high volume of tweets, but the content of his tweets is what makes him stand out from other players. Durant was on Twitter before he was even drafted into the NBA, and his Twitter persona and style have not changed. KD can be himself and speak his mind without any shame on social media, giving fans a genuine look into his life. Here are some of my personal favorite tweets of his that I think sum up his personality best:
Durant's tweets are a work of art. He will post everything and anything that comes into his head and has no shame or second thoughts about it, which is something that a lot of non-NBA superstars are not comfortable with.
Even though these players aren't considered the best or most relatable social media personalities, they still have an impact on social media through charity work and the occasional response to another player or famous personality. What separates this tier from the top tier is the lack of interaction with regular fans on Twitter. The best representative for this tier is "Zero Dark Thirty-23 Mode," also known as LeBron James. Even though I have issues with his social media blackout alter ego (due to the obvious missed opportunity of the name “Zero Dark 23”), LeBron is highly active on social media for ten months out of the year. LeBron uses Twitter to promote charities, endorse his business endeavors, and occasionally post a thought or two about a relevant pop-culture topic. Then during the NBA Playoffs, LeBron will take a self-imposed social media sabbatical, formerly referred to as "Zero Dark Thirty-23 Mode," which is, as mentioned before, a truly missed opportunity for the name and for the fans who don't get to experience the thoughts of playoff LeBron. While LeBron has been active, however, he has had some truly iconic and memorable tweets. Here are some of my favorites:
This tier represents the low of the lows and the virtually non-existent on social media. The people in this tier either don't have social media accounts or have an account but don't really participate on any platform. Being in this tier isn't a bad thing, but in a day and age where the average fan wants more access to their superstars, it’s necessary for players to have more than just an on-court relationship with their fans and community. For this tier, I thought Kawhi Leonard would be the perfect candidate to be the cover athlete. He is the perfect representative for this tier, not only because of his infamous lack of communication last summer with the Spurs, but because his Twitter is barren with four tweets and six people followed, which of course includes the San Antonio Spurs. Luckily for me, it was extremely easy to choose which tweet of his was my favorite. There's not much else I can say about it, so here ya go:
