Best NBA Teams to Follow on Social Media
The Most Popular
What a long, strange trip it’s been since March but we are near the merciful end of 2020 and hopefully, at some point next year, COVID-19 will be just a bitter memory and nothing more. But as sports teams had their seasons interrupted and fans were searching for something to do, the NBA marketing machines went into overdrive to try and fill the void.
Maintaining connections with its fan base was the primary objective and delivering content that would be engaging, informative, and even humorous was the strategy to that end. The Golden State Warriors boast the biggest fan base despite going from the penthouse to the outhouse in the blink of an eye but how they will fare next year is anybody’s guess. Well, certainly some are guessing because at Bookmaker, they are listed at +2500 to win the NBA Championship next season.
Below are recent Instagram numbers for all 30 NBA franchises:
# NBA Team Instagram Followers Championships (in parentheses)
1 Golden State Warriors – 15,400,000 – (6)
2 LA Lakers – 15,300,000 – (17)
3 Cleveland Cavaliers – 8,400,000 – (1)
4 Chicago Bulls – 5,700,000 – (6)
5 Boston Celtics – 5,300,000 – (17)
6 Houston Rockets – 5,100,000 – (2)
7 Oklahoma City Thunder – 4,600,000 – (1)
8 Miami Heat – 4,500,000 – (3)
9 Los Angeles Clippers 3,300,000 – (0)
10 Toronto Raptors – 3,200,000 – (0)
11 San Antonio Spurs – 3,100,000 – (5)
12 Milwaukee Bucks – 3,100,000 – (1)
13 New York Knicks – 2,500,000 – (2)
14 Philadelphia 76ers – 2,500,000 – (3)
15 Brooklyn Nets – 2,300,000 – (0)
16 New Orleans Pelicans – 2,100,000 – (0)
17 Portland Trailblazers – 2,000,000 – (1)
18 Dallas Mavericks – 2,000,000 – (1)
19 Indiana Pacers – 1,900,000 – (0)
20 Minnesota Timberwolves – 1,900,000 – (0)
21 Phoenix Suns – 1,600,000 – (0)
22 Sacramento Kings – 1,400,000 – (1)
23 Washington Wizards – 1,400,000 – (1)
24 Atlanta Hawks – 1,400,000 – (1)
25 Denver Nuggets – 1,300,000 – (0)
26 Charlotte Hornets – 1,200,000 – (0)
27 Detroit Pistons – 1,200,000 – (3)
28 Orlando Magic – 1,200,000 – (0)
29 Utah Jazz – 1,000,000 – (0)
30 Memphis Grizzlies – 1,000,000 – (0)
Social Media Zingers
The Rockets had just ousted the Mavericks in April of 2019 and leave it to their social media guru to stir up a hornet’s nest when he posted this gem: “Shhhhh. Just close your eyes. It will all be over soon” with a gun emoji pointed at a horse which just so happens to be the Mavericks insignia. That bit of poor taste cost Houston’s social media manager, Chad Shanks, his job.
They might not be the best team in the league, or even an average team in the league, but when it comes to social media, the Sacramento Kings shoot nothing but net. In June, the team’s Twitter account posted, “Let’s settle this debate once and for all” and had a Lakers’ logo over the retweet icon on the left while on the right was the Kings’ logo over the heart (like) symbol.
But unfortunately, the poll initially backfired when the Lakers RT received nearly double the likes of the Kings. The social media team sprang into stealth mode when they saw the results and posted a close up of the Lakers’ logo with the words, “I hate” above it and an accompanying tweet that said, “Lakers fans will just RT anything huh?”
There are several players that are also a good follow on Twitter and/or Instagram. Here are a few tweets worth sharing.
After Donald Trump won the election in 2016, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid tweeted, “Well America is tanking!!! All we can do is Trust The Process…”
Kyle Kuzma, then a high school baller and a Twitter troll with hate for Lebron, tweeted this gem that still resonates eight years later, “LeBron is from the east. But decided to got south while his hairline went north his mom went west! LOL!!” Ironically, Kuzma is now a teammate of Lebron’s in Los Angeles.
Kevin Durant several years ago tweeted the following, “I’m watching the History channel in the club and I’m wondering how do these people know what’s goin on on the sun..ain’t nobody ever been”
