The social media age has brought a new level of scrutiny to NBA players. Here are 20 former players who would have owned Twitter for reasons right and wrong.
What if Larry Bird or Michael Jordan has been able to tweet during their playing days? Or Wilt Chamberlain?
The social media service marked its 10th anniversary this year and has become the medium of choice for many of the NBA’s biggest and not-so-biggest stars to promote their brands, offer congratulations, make fun of their teammates and opponents, opine on the key NBA and news issues of the day and speak directly to fans and media.
We wanted to see what notable NBA players of the pre-Twitter era would have either benefited from or been burned by Twitter. All of the players on our listed retired prior to 2006, save for one who retired in 2007.
Some of these players were stars, others were in the spotlight for off-the-court antics, but none ever really had a chance to blow up or been blown up by Twitter.
While our list is limited to players, we did want to note that long-time Celtics coach, general manager and team president Red Auerbach never let up when it came to voicing his opinion on his team, his opponents and the refs.
Like Mark Cuban today, it’s hard to imagine Auerbach self-silencing himself if he had the opportunity to effortlessly offer thoughts on the Celtics, the NBA or various calls to millions of followers. The only question would be how many thousands of dollars in fines each season could Auerbach total before he took a break on his smartphone.
The image of Red with his iPhone in one hand and a cigar in the other railing against the officials would have been something to behold.
“Stand up for your players. Show them you care on and off the court,” he once said.
A man tailor-made for Twitter. There’s little doubt that all the players listed here have had a lasting legacy on social media as they did on the court – for both the right and wrong reasons.
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