Iowa State forward Royce White has everything a person would need to be a desirable draft pick in the NBA. The problem is, he has something extra. Anxiety.
Panic, fear, and angst are constantly hiding in the shadows no matter what Royce does. It’s a daily battle that he wins everyday, but there is always another war tomorrow.
And for that reason alone, there was a question if he would make the 2012 draft.
In June, GrantlandNetwork spent a whole day with the college star while he waited to be drafted, and now the touching short film featuring the star is trending.
After a dismal 0-5 start for Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, things seem worse than most people thought they’d get for the purple and gold — and that’s really saying something. Before the season started, not many people thought this Lakers team would be very good anyway.
Now that they’ve begun their season winless after a quintet of games, words like “worst team in the NBA” are being thrown out while discussing the Lakers.
It is, quite frankly, a dire situation.
And it is also one that seems eerily familiar.
The legendary players going down guns blazing, the slim possibility of a playoff birth, the lack of surrounding talent: Yup, Kobe Bryant’s Lakers sound just like Michael Jordan’s Washington Wizards.
Both Kobe and Jordan rejoined their teams after significant time off.
While Jordan’s return to the NBA was preceded by three seasons spent outside of the league, Kobe rejoined his Lakers following two major injuries that practically cost him all of last season and a significant chunk of the one before.
Kobe is doing way too much for his age, just like Jordan did.
RE: Kobe’s 37 shots as a 36-year-old last night … only Michael Jordan has hoisted more at that age. MJ had one 38 FGA game as a Wizard
Jordan may have been old with the Wizards, but he still had a knack for getting the crowd out of their seats. Kobe clearly hasn’t lost that ability, either.
Both played with no-name players.
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Tyrone Nesby, anyone? How about Robert Sacre?
But Kobe’s Lakers are still amongst the most-watched teams in the league, much like Jordan’s Wizards were.
While the Wizards had sell-out crowds during Jordan’s time in Washington, the Lakers will be amongst the most high-profile teams this season, with 28 scheduled games airing on national television. In both cases, star players drive the interest.
Both Kobe and Jordan worked with their coaches when they were young.
Former Wizards head coach Doug Collins was Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls head coach before Phil Jackson came along. Byron Scott, on the other hand, was somewhat of a mentor during Kobe Bryant’s rookie season in the 90s.
Both put pressure on their teammates through the media.
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Jordan was notorious for criticizing his teammates through the media, once even saying that his team “stinks.”
This past summer, Kobe was also noted for his less-than-flattering review of his teammates, making jokes at the expense of Nick Young and telling Julius Randle he’d be a “really big idiot” to squander his chance of making it with the Lakers.
Both teams had no chance at competing for the title.
With the Lakers at 0-5, you don’t need an explanation on this one.
But Kobe still believes that sky’s the limit, just like — guess who? — Jordan did.
Much like Jordan used to with the Wizards at times, Kobe Bryant is talking up the Lakers’ chances of making a huge and unlikely turnaround. Kobe said:
Just as easily as we lost five in a row, we can turn around and win five in a row.
Kobe and Jordan both led inexperienced teams.
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On both the 01-02 Wizards and 02-03’s roster, Jordan played alongside nine players with only five years or less NBA experience. Kobe’s 2014-15 Lakers feature 10 types of those guys.
Jordan was criticized for his lack of contribution to the team’s success. In some circles, Kobe receives the same criticisms.
It’s like Michael Jordan in Washington. I, for one, didn’t want to see Michael’s last tour with Washington. Nobody did. When the Lakers play Philly and other low-level teams, Kobe will do whatever he wants. But when he plays good teams and gets doubled? That’s when we’ll see that he’s not the same player.
And both Kobe and Jordan were blamed for their teams’ rosters.
Because Michael Jordan had a significant role in the Wizards’ front office before returning to the court, some critics felt that he deserved a share of the blame for not helping build a stronger roster.
Kobe, who seemingly plays a big role in selling the idea of playing with the Lakers to potential recruits, has also been criticized recently by unnamed sources in a high profile ESPN report.
Those sources essentially told Henry Abbott that Bryant’s “a-hole-ness has been a turn off for free agents.”
Both teams only had one complementary scorer.
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Jordan had Rip Hamilton one year and Jerry Steakhouse the other. On his side, Kobe only has Nick Young, and he’s been injured. Yikes.
It was hard to watch Jordan on the Wizards — and it’s the same story watching Kobe lead the Lakers.
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But we don’t care, ’cause we like watching legends.
Let’s get one thing straight: Brandon Knight did the right thing. He made the right play, the hard-working play, the courageous play, and there are plenty of other image-conscious NBA players who never would have stepped in there the way he did.
But, that being said — daaaaaaaaaaaaamn.
If you didn’t catch the highlight last night and need to get up to speed, here’s what happened: Knight’s Detroit Pistons were taking on the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday evening. The Clippers — known to sports fans as “Lob City” for their propensity for high-flying alley-oops — ran a lob play for center DeAndre Jordan, who came steaming down the lane with all of his 6-feet-11 inches and 265 pounds hurtling toward the rim. The lob went up. Jordan went up. Knight — who stands 6-foot-3 and weights 189 pounds – went up. The two collided in mid air and Knight went down. Hard. Then the ball bounced off his head.
Words cannot really do a play of such epic viciousness and wanton disregard for human life proper justice, however, so you should just watch the YouTube video embedded above several times. (Pro tip: Pay special attention to the gleeful reaction of the four kids seated courtside.)
The dunk, unsurprisingly, blew up the basketball Twitters, with both Jordan and Knight’s names trending worldwide (Knight’s name was trending again Monday morning). But it didn’t stop there. Someone edited Knight’s Wikipedia page to read that he in fact died in the game. Cause of death? DeAndre Jordan.
And — much like when an unconscious Manny Pacquiao received a derisive meme treatment after being knocked out in a December fight — Internet jokesters were quick to delight in Knight’s plight. To whit:
Jordan’s excellent post-dunk face got plenty of well-deserved love too:
Knight, for his part, took the posterization in stride, posting this terrific response to Twitter late Sunday night:
It wasn’t in the scouting reports that the clippers threw lobs lol
Roasting Knight was all good and fun. That incredible play will live on for time immemorial, much to Knight’s eternal chagrin. But let’s not get too carried way here, sports fans; Brandon Knight is still living a life the rest of us can only dream about. Internet columnist and former Cal basketball player Rod Benson perhaps summed the big-picture situation up best with this tweet:
He’s gonna drive in a car we all wish we could to a home we all wish we lived in and probably sex a girl we all wish we had. #nextgame
This dunk set the Internet aflame in January. The official NBA YouTube video already has more than 5 million views. The dunk prompted Perkins to call out LeBron James in the press for tweeting the epic slam.
2. LeBron James on John Lucas
The night before Griffin’s monumental throw-down, James turned in a classic of his own. He cleared Bulls guard John Lucas to catch this backdoor alley-oop.
3. Dwyane Wade on Anderson Verejao
A couple years ago, before he and James joined forces on the Heat, Dwyane Wade completely overwhelmed James’ then-teammate, Varejao. In the immortal words of commentator Reggie Miller, “Welcome to your Kodak moment, Anderson Verejao!”
4. Baron Davis on Andrei Kirilenko
This dunk will live forever in the hearts of Golden State Warriors fans. It came during the middle of the team’s improbable “We Believe” playoff run in 2007. Davis’ weird, belly-baring celebration, which earned him a technical foul, brings it up another notch.
5. Shaquille O’Neal on basketball hoop designers
This dunk isn’t technically “on” anyone, but young Shaq pulling down an entire basketball support is epic enough to make any list. As the esteemed Bill Walton would say, “Throw it down, big man!”
6. Tom Chambers on Mark Jackson
Current Warriors coach Mark Jackson had a stellar playing career with several NBA teams, but he was on the receiving end of probably the greatest NBA dunk ever by a white guy.
7. Scottie Pippen on Patrick Ewing
Scottie Pippen obliterated Knicks center Patrick Ewing in this 1994 dunk, and this two-minute video tells the entire story.
8. Michael Jordan on Patrick Ewing
Pippen’s Bulls teammate — some guy named Michael Jordan — also had a ruthless dunk over Ewing. He actually had a couple, but this one is the most savage of all.
9. John Starks on the Chicago Bulls
However, Knicks guard John Starks gave the high flying Bulls a taste of their own medicine in 1993 with this lefty flush. Lore has it that Starks caught Jordan on this one, but that’s debatable, at best. Check the tape and decide for yourself.
10. Allen Iverson on Marcus Camby
Back in the ’90s, when both still played for the teams that drafted them, tiny Allen Iverson was all like, “Marcus, this elevator goes to 10 and I’m dropping you off at 7.”
11. Kevin Johnson on Hakeem Olajuwon
Johnson is currently the mayor of Sacramento, Calif., but back in 1994 the short point guard did this to Hakeem Olajuwon. How many politicians can include “dunked over a Hall of Fame center” on their resumes?
12. Vince Carter on Frederic Weis
We know Vince Carter’s all-time classic isn’t technically an NBA dunk, but it’s so good we’ll make an exception. Playing in the off-season for the U.S. at the 2000 Olympics, Carter cleared the 7-foot-2-inch Weis to throw it down.
What gets fans up off their seats cheering more than anything else at a basketball game? A well executed slam dunk! As it’s been a great season, the NBA decided to travel back in time and review the top ten dunks from the past year. Understandably, this list video has gone viral!
New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher was just standing there, minding his own business, during a play stoppage in Sunday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. Then: Lance Stephenson outta nowhere!
The Hornets eccentric swingman — who you may remember for blowing in LeBron James’ ear during the NBA playoffs last season — popped up for one of the most excellent sports videobombs in recorded human history.
Just watch that again. And again. And again. And again. There’s something almost hypnotic about it. Comforting even; you just know Lance is going to show up and never let you down.
Of course, someone had to go make a “Turn Down For What” version. And we thank them for it.
This runaway vehicle wreaked minor on-field havoc following a high school football championship in Texas last December. But a heroic bystander hopped aboard and put on the brakes.
No casualties occurred, and the clip immediately became Internet legend.
2. Penalty Kick Fail
Watch out for the ricochet, goalie! This kid gets it in the right in the chops.
3. Mascot on Rollerblades Fail
What happens when you put an inflatable dinosaur on rollerblades and ask it to skate down a flight of stairs? Amazingness, that’s what.
4. Flopping Fail
In sports, to “flop” is to exaggerate the force of contact in hopes of drawing a favorable call from officials. But you’ve got to time it much, much better than this guy does.
5. Hockey Celebration Fail
Apparently, if you hug a member of the opposite team after scoring a goal in hockey, you will get punched in the face.
6. Innocent Bystander Fail
This kid is just in the wrong place at the wrong time…to the benefit of the rest of us.
7. Representing Your School Fail
College football mascots are supposed to represent their schools in a fun, positive light — which doesn’t typically include picking fights. Here, the University of Oregon’s duck slams the University of Houston’s cougar.
Bonus points for the sick elbow drop, though.
8. Weightlifting Fail
Not saying we could successfully lift 432 pounds above our heads, but dang, that looks painful.
German weightlifter Matthias Steiner dropped this massive barbell on his neck during the London Olympics this summer, but escaped serious injury.
9. Trampoline Dunk Fail
Sometimes, when you fail, you actually win.
10. Hurdling Fail
Why jump over hurdles when you could just RUN STRAIGHT THROUGH THEM?
File under: Never, Ever Gets Old.
11. Paying Attention Fail
After what could best be described as an “optimistic” shot attempt in a game last season, NBA center JaVale McGee showed some nice hustle getting back on defense. Only problem? His team still had the ball.
12. Judgment Fail
But that wasn’t McGee’s only legendary moment. Here, he shows why it’s not a good idea to try dunking from the free throw line mid-game.
13. Olympic Promo Fail
For some reason, London’s Olympic promotions this summer involved hanging Mayor Boris Johnson on a zipline while waving a pair of tiny flags.
Then he got stuck halfway through and it was pretty much the best, funniest, awkwardest thing that could have happened.
14. Grand Slam Celebration Fail
Major Leaguer Kendry Morales broke his lower left leg while celebrating a game-winning grand slam in 2010. This edited video provides the before, during and after rundown.
15. Slam Dunk Fail
See? White guys can jump? It’s just the landing that’s the hard part.
16. High Dive Fail
The announcer here sums it up perfectly. She calls this attempt from the 1992 Olympics “an absolute failed dive.”
17. Piggyback Ride Fail
What begins as an innocent enough piggyback ride atop a fuzzy mascot turns into a pretty epic collision — and YouTube gold.
18. Long Jump Fail
Dude! If you’re gonna pump up the crowd like that, you can’t just faceplant into the sand.
19. Touchdown Celebration Fail
When you think about it, is there any better way to celebrate a touchdown than by pegging an unsuspecting spectator in the face? Bonus points for originality, at least.
20. Pro Golfer Fail
You’d think a professional golfer could put the ball in the hole with less than 16 strokes. Kevin Na — and the rest of the world — found out otherwise on this par-four hole at the 2011 Valero Texas Open.
21. Head-First Slide Fail
Well, that’s one way of doing it…right?
22. Time Management Fail
Tie game, clock winding down — it’s always better to get one last attempt up than just let the game go into overtime. A full court desperation heave with a 11 seconds to go is never the way to do it, however.
This classic gaffe by the University of Connecticut’s Roscoe Smith came during a matchup of top teams in 2011.
23. Boogie Boarding Fail
Its veracity may be suspect, but this 2008 YouTube classic has more than 12.7 million views, despite a mind-numbing soundtrack.
24. Sportsmanship Fail
The summer of 2011 was a tough time for NBA star LeBron James. It was full of lingering ill-will for his decision to the leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and snarky schadenfreude over his initial failure to win a championship with the Miami Heat.
So it makes perfect sense that he’d let off some steam by viciously dunking on a tiny kid at summer camp, right? That’s what happens at the 0:43 mark of this video.
25. Standing on a Basketball Hoop Fail
We’re not quite sure why this mascot thought standing on top of a basketball rim was a good idea.
The Los Angeles Lakers dramatically altered the NBA landscape Thursday night by reportedly agreeing to terms in a trade that will land them superstar center Dwight Howard — also known as Superman. Friday morning, Lakers legend and current alpha dog Kobe Bryant took to Facebook to welcome the new addition from London, where he’s competing in the Olympics with the United States basketball team.
“Well, it looks like Superman has found a home,” Bryant’s post begins.
“The Lakers landed a piece that will hopefully carry the franchise long after I’m gone,” the note continues. “I have spoken to Dwight Howard already and we are locked and loaded to bring back the title. Wow, what a summer Jimmy and Mitch have had so far. Unreal! I’m focused on our semifinal game vs Argentina but I had to pause for a few to send you my thoughts, in case you were curious..”
The message gained about 70,000 Likes in the hour after Bryant posted it.
Bryant has been much more active and engaged on Facebook this summer, particularly during his travels with USA basketball. He has 13.7 million fans on the network. According to the Wall Street Journal, he writes all his status updates and messages himself, relying on support staff only for proofreading and actual posting.
Also of note about Bryant’s Facebook activity: He’s one of the few high-profile American athletes who focuses more on that platform than he does on Twitter (he still hasn’t opened a Twitter account).
But Bryant is far from the only NBA and USA basketball player who’s on fire on the social web this summer. Many of his national team compatriots have been tweeting regular updates, and their goofy Instagram photos of sleeping teammates, Segway tours and other miscellaneous moments have gained widespread attention. Check out some of the team’s most entertaining Instagram shots here:
USA Basketball Instagrams: Ridiculously Awesome
1. via Kevin Durant (Instagram: @trey5)
When a couple shots of players including Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Durant and James Harden checking out Barcelona by Segway hit the web Wednesday morning, we all learned an important lesson: Supercool basketball stars do dorky tourist things, too!
2. via Chris Paul (Instagram: @cp3)
Traveling can be taxing. Point guard Paul caught the bearded wonder Harden knocked out on a bus earlier this month in an early installment of a popular Team USA Instagram genre: Teammates Asleep on Busses and Airplanes. Paul tweeted the photo with the hashtag #GotEm.
3. via LeBron James (Instagram: @kingjames)
When the team came across a dead ringer for power forward Kevin Love, James had to tweet an Instagram shot of the two together.
4. via Kevin Durant
Even LeBron, the NBA’s reigning regular season MVP and Finals MVP, isn’t immune to the Teammates Asleep on Busses and Airplanes craze. #GotEm! In the background, Carmelo Anthony expresses his support for Durant’s work.
5. via Kevin Durant
The squad took this pretty epic group photo in front of Barcelona’s National Museum of Catalan Art. Then, lots of them Instagrammed it.
6. via Deron Williams (Instagram: dwill8)
Point guard Williams lent some nice context to the Segway tour with this two-panel gem of Harden and Durant.
7. via LeBron James
Okay, so maybe NBA players are way cooler than us on Instagram, too. Here’s James and Anthony looking B.A. on the bus.
8. via Chris Paul
Like us, however, they do Instagram and tweet group photos taken at fancy meals…
9. via Carmelo Anthony (Instagram: @carmeloanthony)
…as well as photos from not-so-fancy meals.
10. via LeBron James
Here’s another way NBA stars are like us on Instagram: If you follow multiple people who go do the same thing, and that thing is cool, your feed will probably get flooded with nearly identical photos processed through different filters.
11. via James Harden (Instagram: @jharden13)
Beach shots are popular no matter who you are. “Beach Thugging wit Russ!!” Harden captioned this photo from Spain, referencing Thunder and Team USA teammate Russell Westbrook.
12. via Kevin Love (Instagram: @kevinlove7)
A 7Up can featuring 1992 Larry Bird? Too awesome not to Instagram! Love is a funny dude, too. Here’s how he captioned this shot: “I don’t usually have soft drinks before a game but…well, you get the idea…”
13. via LeBron James
Even NBA players know everything looks better in HDR. Here, James shares a preview of the special throwback uniforms the team wore for a recent exhibition.
14. via Deron Williams
Even people look cooler in HDR. This shot from Williams shows Paul, Anthony and Tyson Chandler courtside at practice.
Until recently, only the most hardcore NBA fans knew the name Jeremy Evans. That all changed Thursday morning, however, when a YouTube clip of the Utah Jazz forward’s ridiculous block-and-dunk sequence went viral on the Interwebs. Evans’ name became a worldwide Twitter trend, and many, many jokes were made at the expense of Ronny Turiaf, the opponent on the receiving end of the back-to-back highlights.
Evans uses his spring-loaded legs to jump about 12 feet in the air and swat the 6-foot-9 Turiaf’s jumper, then bounds down the court, grabs the loose ball and dunks right on the hustling-but-hapless Turiaf’s head.
Poor guy. Lucky us. Check out the video above. You can also watch our countdown of the most epic NBA dunks on YouTube right here.
BONUS GALLERY: 15 YouTube Videos of NBA Stars Dominating in High School
15 YouTube Videos of NBA Stars Dominating in High School
1. Derrick Rose
The Chicago Bulls point guard starred at the Windy City’s Simeon Career Academy in high school before playing one season of college ball then getting picked first overall by his hometown pro team in the 2008 NBA Draft. He was league MVP in 2011, and is currently on the road to recovery from a serious knee injury.
As a high schooler, he was the top-ranked player in the country. This video, which has over 2.6 million YouTube views, makes it easy to understand why.
2. Vince Carter
Before becoming the rather husky swingman you see in Dallas today, Carter was known as “Air Canada” for his high-flying exploits as a Toronto Raptor. Before that, he starred at the University of North Carolina. Before that, he dunked all over helpless youngsters as a Florida high school legend.
3. James Harden
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard is known as much for his epic beard as smooth game today. But just a few years ago, he was a baby-faced prep star leading Artesia High School to back-to-back California state championships.
4. LeBron James
This Ohio news report on a local high school sophomore by the name of LeBron James is priceless today. From coaches speculating that he might make the NBA one day, to his earnest interviews, it’s amazing to compare this with the global icon we know today. Newsman Brad Forster, who you see in the clip, uploaded it to his personal YouTube channel in 2010.
5. John Wall
Wall starred at the University of Kentucky for one season before becoming the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. This compilation is from his senior year of high school at Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, is pretty freaking sweet and has 6.8 million views on YouTube.
6. Jason Kidd
What makes this highlight reel even more impressive? It all comes from one game, when Kidd led St. Joseph’s High School from Alameda, California, to the 1992 state championship. He then went on to star at Cal and is currently wrapping up his Hall of Fame career with the New York Knicks.
7. Brandon Jennings
Jennings is a budding star for the Milwaukee Bucks. This video, which has more than 1.3 million YouTube views, shows him as a high schooler dominating for Oak Hill Academy and in various club team tournaments.
8. Kyrie Irving
After being this awesome in high school, Irving played one year at Duke, became the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, then won the league’s Rookie of the Year award in 2012.
This video of his high school exploits has earned more than 1.5 million YouTube views.
9. Anthony Davis
Davis, the first overall pick of the June’s draft, is being counted on to help lead the New Orleans Hornets back to respectability. This is him destroying all comers during his senior year at Chicago’s Perspectives Charter School way back in 2010 and 2011.
10. Austin Rivers
Davis will be joined in New Orleans by Rivers, another highly touted rookie. He’s the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, and is seen here killing it at Winter Park High School in Florida as a senior in 2010 and 2011. The impressive mix has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube.
11. Damian Lillard
Who’s that, you ask? Lillard, the sixth overall pick of June’s NBA Draft, is a trendy pick among many analysts to take home the Rookie of the Year award this year. This is him back at Oakland High School in the Bay Area of California.
12. Rajon Rondo
So Rondo’s been doing that fake behind-the-back move forever! This is the current Celtics star during his final year of high school ball, in 2004 at national basketball power Oak Hill Academy.
13. Josh Smith
Rondo was joined at Oak Hill that season by current Atlanta Hawks star Josh Smith. Now that’s what’s called an unfair advantage.
14. Carmelo Anthony
A couple years before that, current New York Knick Carmelo Anthony played for Oak Hill and, yeah, he was pretty good and dunked a lot, too.
15. Amar’e Stoudemire
And here’s Anthony’s current Knicks teammate Stoudemire completely taking a bunch of high schoolers to well, school, as a prep in Orlando, Florida. All these dunks and blocks, from just four games. What are you supposed to do against a kid like that?
Kobe Bryant, long the sports world’s biggest social media holdout, turned to fans on Sunday to help him solve a nearly existential dilemma: Instagram or Twitter?
Bryant posed the question on Facebook, where he has built up a consistent presence over the past year while continuing to abstain from other social platforms. In a Sunday morning post, he first updated his 14 million fans on how the Lakers are adjusting to a new system after firing coach Mike Brown just five games into this season.
Then Kobe got to the important stuff:
On a social media front, I’m thinking about potentially branching out some more and want some feedback, Instagram or Twitter??? Or is there another platform I don’t know about.. I will lean on your feedback. My Facebook will remain the same.
If Bryant does choose one over the other, it will be a tiny victory for either Twitter or Instagram after an interesting several months between the two services.
Facebook bought Instagram — which has absolutely exploded in popularity over the past two years — for an agreed upon price of $1 billion in April. (That amount dropped to a final mark of $715 million after Facebook’s stock price tumbled before the deal was closed.) A clear play for Instagram’s mobile user base and popularity, the deal took on added drama when it was revealed that Twitter had previously wanted to acquire the photo sharing network.
Twitter is now reportedly working on a photo-filtering product to compete with Instagram and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey — an early Instagram investor and one of its first high-profile users — hasn’t used the app since the day it was sold.
One more celebrity user obviously wouldn’t be a huge deal for either Twitter or Instagram, but “branching out” on social media wouldn’t be a bad idea for Bryant. He’s one of the world’s most well-known athletes and guaranteed to make a lot social-savvy fans happy; in 2011 Bryant actually joined Twitter momentarily, racking up more than 35,000 followers before promptly deleting his account after just a few hours.
Which would you recommend if you could choose only one — Instagram or Twitter? Give us your vote in the comments.
Adrian Wojnarowski runs the NBA reporting game. The Yahoo Sports writer is equally adept at breaking big news and writing insightful columns. Follow him for links to content as well as 140-character bursts of analysis.
From his handle, to his never-ceasing promotion of his rap career, to his stated location — “Wherever its Trill” — San Antonio Spurs swingman Stephen Jackson is easily the trillest NBA follow on Twitter.
This NBA season looks to be epic, but who are the game’s next stars? When it comes to scouting future pros, no one matches DraftExpress. Follow for links, as well as quick updates and insights from NBA feeder leagues around the world.
Jeremy Lin burst onto the NBA scene out of nowhere last season with the New York Knicks. He’s a centerpiece for the Houston Rockets now, and it will be interesting to see where his story goes from here. Twitter should be one great way to follow along.
Going back to its early days as “the in-your-face basketball magazine,” SLAM has been a fun counterpoint to mainstream sports media since the mid-1990s. Follow for news roundups, highlights and a window into the fan conversation.
Whitaker writes and talks NBA for SLAM, GQ, NBATV and other outlets. He’s a fun follow for casual hoops talk and smart insight into the pro basketball world.
While his NBA career is currently somewhat in limbo, chances are Delonte West will find a new team to help out soon enough. He’s also one of the NBA’s funniest players.
The New York Times‘ ace NBA reporter will also be covering the Nets during the team’s inaugural season in Brooklyn. If you’re interested in how Brooklyn takes to its new home team, Beck is a must-follow now more than ever.
Pacers center Roy Hibbert recently told us all about how he wins the Internet. He’s one of the most down-to-earth and digitally savvy players in the league. In related news, he’s also on a quest to get K-pop star Psy to tweet his “Gangnam Style” flash mob, as evidenced in the tweet at left.
On and off the court, intentionally and unintentionally, the Denver Nuggets’ JaVale McGee is quite possibly the NBA’s most entertaining player. He used Twitter last season to fake out NBA reporters by saying he’d bought a platypus, only to later chastise journalists who ran with the story before fact-checking its veracity. Can you imagine any other NBA player pulling a stunt like that?
Nate Jones works in digital marketing for Goodwin Sports Management, helping some of the league’s best players connect with fans online. He interacts with followers nonstop, and his feed functions as a sort of digital sports bar for discussing all things NBA.
Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is one of the league’s most web-savvy executives, as evidenced by a Reddit AMA he held recently. He’s candid and surprisingly willing to discuss his job and the NBA in general on social media — giving fans a unique perspective not found elsewhere.
Ballard covers the NBA and writes longform features for Sports Illustrated. One of the best reasons to follow him is the bevy of factoids and outtakes he’ll share via Twitter after a feature comes out in SI.
The NBA’s most advanced offensive weapon, Kevin Durant is honest and (usually) active on Twitter. This tweet, his unfiltered reaction to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s recent trade of James Harden, gained more than 24,000 retweets.
Lowe recently moved from SI.com to the ESPN website Grantland.com. He’s a rare breed in NBA media circles, able to combine advanced statistics with compelling copy for must-read articles.
NBA writer Holly MacKenzie tweets funny one-liners, pens terrific longer pieces and provides a rare bit of variety in the male-dominated (to say the least) world of basketball coverage.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry is extremely popular on Twitter, and it’s easy to see why — few NBA players are as engaging or appreciative of their fans.
The ESPN blog TrueHoop is a one-stop shop for all things NBA and constantly shares items of interest on Twitter. Particularly worthwhile are its link roundups from across the web.
Steve Nash has long been one of the league’s most accessible superstars on social media. Follow his journey 140 characters at a time as he settles into a new role with the Los Angeles Lakers and looks to win his first championship.
Few pro sports owners are as compelling to follow on Twitter as Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks. He’ll talk both basketball and business, so he’s likely of particular interest to Mashable readers.
Brian Windhorst has covered LeBron James for different outlets since the NBA’s best player was a budding high school phenom. He now covers the Miami Heat and NBA at large for ESPN, and is one of the better reporters involved in the game.
Kevin Love has been on top of Twitter as long as any pro athlete. He uses Twitter to crack funny jokes and share news, as he did here to thank fans for their well wishes after sustaining a hand injury that will keep him out for the first couple months of the season.
Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLA.com. He’ll be a fascinating follow as the Lakers try to successfully blend a collection of superstars and dethrone the mighty Miami Heat next spring.
