Ty Lawson Needs to Make Sure He Logs Out of Twitter

Ty Lawson is one of my favorite basketball players. Incredible at Carolina, his rookie season in the NBA promised even greater things to come. The other reason I like Ty? Dude's really funny. Unfortunately for him, his boys like a good joke every now and then too, even if that joke mostly consists of using Ty's Twitter to post a lot about how much he loves man-meat. Repeatedly. Unendingly. There's still no end in sight to the posts on his Twitter, but for posterity's sake, I've saved some of the first ones:

Oh, man-meat jokes.

UPDATE: Apparently, Ty didn't like what was posted and deleted it. Good thing we can remember it forever here.

Here is where you can find me talk about Juwan Howard (allegedly) giving people herpes twice. Here is where I watched The Decision with my drunk girlfriend who enjoys cracking wise. Here is where I gave out some fake bloggy awards to players.

What's Up With Dirk?

I will try to keep this short and on-point because at its core, these are ill-founded, conspiratorial musings that seem to mostly spring from my hope of a Team of Destiny, where LeBron and Dirk come to Chicago to team up with Rose and Noah. This is a thing that won’t happen. That said, let’s talk about the weirdness that’s making it seem more and more possible.

The first bit of weirdness: Dirk opted out. For months and months, people were expecting Dirk and Yao to stay with their teams and not really participate in the Summer of Apocalypse Bonanza. Dirk confounded those expectations. And us.

Dirk is the best player in the history of Mavericks franchise, seems to get along great with everyone, is compensated as well as anyone can be compensated in the NBA, and is generally happy. That being said, he has yet to win a championship and that apparently eats at him. This is the reason he’d potentially want to leave.

But would he really? The Mavericks have insisted Dirk is staying and that they are confident he’ll sign a big extension and all will be right in Dallas. What does Dirk say? Well, nothing so far, but his actions have been weirdly ambivalent.

First, obviously, opting out instead of just signing the max money extension which the Mavs surely offered. The Mavs deal can’t get any sweeter. No presenting or quibbling to be done. I mean, the Mavs can reassure Dirk they will make better moves, but what else is to be done? In an effort to kiss the ring, Mav’s president Donnie Nelson was going to fly to Germany to “kiss the ring” and effectively do what no other president in the NBA is likely to do. Surely that would seal the deal right?

At the airport, Nelson received word that Dirk was actually flying back to the States. Which could mean that Dirk wants to take part in other meetings with other teams. If the Mavs were coming to him, why else would he come back to the States? Well, maybe he’s just tired of Germany, but ignore that for now, we are in conspiracy mode. DIRK IS IN PLAY.

Don’t believe me? Here’s another silly bit of conspiracy fodder: Dirk said he’ll be in Dallas Friday morning. What’s that mean? John Hollinger was a little puzzled because Europe flights come in during the evening. So where is Dirk going to be tonight? Jason Kidd said he was having dinner with Dirk in New York tonight. So, who here thanks that Dirk is in New York tonight to just enjoy the dining? NOT THE KNICKS OR THE NETS.

Listen, Wade is staying in Miami, and Bosh largely seems on-board with that while LeBron seems skeptical. Chad Ford seems skeptical too, while noting that a Dirk and LeBron pairing on the Bulls would give them the inside track. I agree, and I think that the Nets and the Knicks are on the outside looking in regardless. That said, if Dirk agreed to play with the Knicks or the Nets, that would be a significant game-changer. If Dirk signs anywhere other than Dallas, and LeBron can sign too, I think that team becomes the favorite to land LeBron.

LeBron is the key to where everyone else lands in free-agency, widely regarded as the first domino that will touch off massive movement around the league. The trick here is that no signing affects where LeBron will sign more than Dirk’s decision. Dirk’s sudden ambivalence towards Dallas could touch off sudden and wild shifts. This is the story that’s most interesting to me, but it should be noted that this is a story based on the quirks of air travel, the relative interestingness of Germany vs. Dallas, and Dirk acting slightly weird. The slightest Twitter musings, the pressure-cooker of the NBA rumor mill and a little conspiratorial salt can make for a tasty dish and a potentially juicy scenario: Lebron and Dirk to the Bulls/Knicks/Nets.

Or, Dirk might just sign with the Mavericks like we all thought he would. Whatever. Let's enjoy the conspiracies while they last.

Twitter Sorrow I Have Known

Already, the Golden Era of NBA Twitter is drawing to a close. For less than one full season, there was a blossoming of unfettered contact between athletes and fans: silly messages abounded, zen-like koans were uttered (mostly by Shaq), and lots of people got to learn when there favorite players were done lifting weights. I, for one, really appreciated all of the silliness.

It looks like it's over though. Players are tired of the silly, stupid, or impolitic things they put on their Twitter showing up on ESPN. Soon, all the players will still have Twitters, but they will carefully be managed by their publicists firm. You can see some of this already, in fact. Exacerbated by Marbury's Twitter-abetted melt-down and the on-going conversation about the proper role of players' online behavior, J.R. Smith, my favorite remorseless, ultra-athletic shooting guard with infinite range took down his Twitter after allegations of gang-related orthography in his Twitter posts. I know, right?

Shoal takes on the topic of Internet related missteps over at the Baseline in a nice piece that optimistically imagines a future where the players still Twitter, but they do so thoughtfully, with an awareness that waht they say will be reported and, indeed, make news. I think this view makes the mistake of assuming that teams, agents, publicists, and the League itself trusts it's talent enough to not make asses of themselves. I think an army of publicist-manned NBA Twitters is probably heading towards the shore as we speak. In any case, players are certainly headed towards guarding what they more carefully.

This brings us to the part of the story dealing with one, Rashad McCants. For those of you who don't know, Rashad was a cold-hearted scoring machine on 2005 NCAA Championship team for the University of North Carolina. He did a long stint on the Timberwolves before being traded to the Sacramento Kings midway through this season. Currently, he is an unrestricted free agent looking for a deal. In the NBA, Rashad has mostly been instant offense off the bench, looked upon as a second-string, borderline first string shooting guard who can make buckets like it's nobody's business. In a lot of ways, his team role is similar to that of fellow free agents, Flip Murray and Von Wafer. That's not the point though.

The point is, Rashad has a Twitter. Cautious, Rashad protected his Twitter so that only approved parties could see his updates. He then undercut this step by approving everyone, which was great, because Rashad had lots of interesting things to say and lots of sincere questions to ask. Furthermore, he wore his real feelings and emotions on his sleeve. All his followers knew about his frustration about not being signed. Example Tweet:

"just wondering? do u guys think im kinda crazy in some way? like a bad boy? its what I hear why teams wont sign me. its funny but i wana know."

"Just finished lifting.. Feels good to be in great shape.. What free agent sg out there ever avg more then 10ppg?"

In all fairness, I can't seem to find these Tweets up anymore. It looks like Rashad deleted them after they were reported a couple of places and Hoopshype added his Twitter to their nifty mass NBA player Twitter-aggregator. While Rashad initially seemed happy and positive about the attention his Twitter was getting, clearly something changed when he noticed that a lot of the attention wasn't positive. He posted a couple of times about the frustration he had about some of the articles, though those seem to have been deleted too. Finally, enough was enough and Rashad created a new Twitter account and invited "those who love my twits." The need to watch what one says in public had claimed another victim.

This now brings us to the personal part of the story. I love Rashad. He was a hero of that 2005 UNC team, which meant a great deal to me, and yeah, I thought the enigmatic bad-boy thing was cool. I still reread his SI cover story from 2004 every now and then ("Many Moves, Many Moods" (seriously)). The point is, I loved Rashad's twits. I really did. He was really responsive to his followers on Twitters and would even try to follow anyone who messaged him. He asked advice often and seemed to read and respond to as much as he could. Hell, I even Twittered at him a few times with what I thought were nice and supportive messages. Surely, I would be approved to follow him on his new account. I was a true fan, I was a supporter, and on some minor tangential level, I considered myself a very, very minor friend. Naive, I know.

Anyway, you know where this story is going right? Rashad's new username is Sozeperme and when I requested to follow him, I was flatly rejected. Three times ( I had to make sure!). That's cool, I understood: "Surely he wants to just keep it to his family and close friends." Which is why when my friend Brittany told me that Rashad had not only permitted her to follow him but had returned the favor and started following her, I was kind of crushed. If by kind of crushed we mean totally devastated. Maybe it was just a coincidence? Another request denial coldly limned on my laptop screen didn't help to set the record straight. Why on Earth is Brittany allowed in and I'm not? She doesn't know and love Rashad the way I do!

I simultaneously developed two theories. Theory One: Rashad looked at my Twitter and saw all the posts about the NBA and assumed (correctly) that I'm the kind of jerk sports blogger who would write extensively about his Twitter. Good call, there Rashad! Theory Two: The only strangers that Rashad wanted to talk to were girls. This theory was confirmed scientifically when my friend, Breniecia, was also confirmed while once more I was left out in the cold. Having no evidence to disprove either theory I'm going to assume both are correct and draw conclusions from each of them.

Conclusion One: Love in the Time of Lebron has really made it! Rashad is afraid of the potential for a scathing expose! CREDIBILITY! HOO-RAY!

Conclusion Two: If you want to follow Rashad McCants on Twitter then you should try being a girl. Attractive if possible.

Crucially, the first conclusion allows me to find a silver lining in the storm cloud of Rashad's callous and heart-breaking rejection and come away from this thing feeling alright. The second just seems like solid advice. So there you have it. Now a some words for Rashad:

Rashad, for what it's worth, you did hurt my feelings a little bit, but I think I'm going to be okay. I wish you all the luck in the future and am happy to hype you up: You are still a solid player who packs a sick offensive punch (GMs and associates, check out his sick Per36 stats; the dude is a hoss). Lots of teams would be lucky to have you, and I hope you get signed soon. And, in the event, that your feelings change, my Twitter is http://twitter.com/kellenlc.

PS: Rashad has a totally respectable mercuriality of 96. That's better than Lebron. Respect.

Stephon Marbury Wants to Talk to You (No, Really)

I keep holding off on writing my great big Stephon Marbury melts down live in front of everyone entry because the story keeps evolving. About an hour ago, Starbury took it to the next level by posting his cell phone number on Twitter and yes, really answering people's calls. He now joins Mike Jones in the illustrious category of celebrities who's cell phone numbers I have in my phone. I haven't gotten through yet, but maybe you can get a hold of him. Heres the message he posted on his Twitter:

A lot of people where asking for a hot line number. Well here it is. Call me anytime. Love is love. I love you more then you know 9179237775

Let me know if you get through, and for reference, here is my Twitter. Below I will post updates and reference links to those looking for all things Starbury Meltdown.

Starbury Meltdown Roundup
This all started with the 24-hour, live streaming Marburython, so first thing's first: Here is his channel with some delightful archived clips.

Here is the account of the events by the paper of record, and thus, how the event will be remembered by history. Here is another newspaper account.

Here are a couple Internet people trying to make sense of what exactly it was that they saw. Here are some brief bewildered accounts at Fanhouse and Bleacher Report.

Here are two sweet transcripts/live-blogged accounts of what exactly went down at the Marburython. Here is a nice one from NBA Musings and a really thorough account by the good folks at Inside Hoops.

So the Marburython ended, but then a funny thing happened. Stephon Marbury just kept streaming. As I'm writing this, he is streaming here.

Some people took a thoughtful approach, notably, Bethlehem Shoals and Joey from Straight Banging on Free Darko in the context of larger issues. Ziller had at least one nice piece on Fanhouse. Although, as I mentioned, the best thing I've read happens to have been written before the Marburython ever happened.

The folks at ESPN took a tragic, finger-waving angle on the matter. J. A. Adande gets sanctimonious, though I'm sure he means well. Scoop Jackson takes a pretty direct approach in his column called "Someone save Stephon Marbury," ending, honest-to-God with the line: "Now, I'm concerned."

The fans in the chatrooms and on Twitter seem much less concerned with his career and seem honestly, earnestly, delighted that he is reaching out to to be our very own Most Valuable Person. Steph might be destroying his career, and the fickle fans might soon turn on him, but right now Starbury is a folk hero and absolutely the man of the people.

More updates in this space as I learn more.

Twitter Wars I Have Known

The most important question of our time is being decided as we speak. A question of great cultural significance and resonating import: Who is more popular on Twitter, Charlie Villanueva or Chris Bosh?

Currently, the two are racing to see who will be the first to have 50,000 followers. Granted, this is a modes goal compared to Shaq's 1.6 million followers, but Shaq, as near as I can tell, is the whole reason that Twitter matters. He's in a class of his own when it comes to channeling his own message, self-mythologizing, and being weird on Twitter (the opposite of Iverson). Indeed, the only reason so many NBA players and people are on Twitter, as near as I can tell, is because Shaq has used it so successfully. Since then, it's been a tidal wave. It's weird if an NBA player isn't on Twitter. Sean May and Nazr Mohammad both have accounts, to give you an example of how widespread the twittering has become. If the bottom of the Bobcats big man rotation are all using Twitter, then you know everyone is using Twitter. Notable exceptions to the rule: Kobe and Lebron don't use Twitter, because well, one's a super controlling sociopath and the other finds Twitter unnecessary due to his mutant abilities which allegedly include, but certainly aren't limited to, mass telepathy (I for one look forward to Lebron broadcasting his message of dominance, support for Cleaveland, and sneaker consumption directly inside my skull). Also, as far as I know, Marvin Williams doesn't have a Twitter, really hurting my theory that he's a huge nerd. Despite this, apparently his booty loves to Twitter. The point being, the NBA loves Twitter.

In my own experience, there are only four types of people on Twitter (really only three if you group the first two under "Nerds"):

1. Tech folks.
2. Media folks.
3. People who just got back from a run.
4. NBA players.

Now, as far as NBA players using Twitter, I love it. It's still one of those things that isn't entirely controlled by publicists yet, so it really is a pretty good way to get direct and unfettered access to the players, coaches, owners, and journalists instantaneous and direct thoughts. Now is the point where I mention that most of this is tedious, banal, and maybe disappointing. However, a healthy portion of it is just weird. I don't know if you know this, but NBA players are some of the most deeply bizarre, weird, funny, and personable yet crazy people on the planet. Letting them channel their thoughts directly to the masses is just completely fascinating. And it comes in all flavors: Check out some of the Baseline's round-ups of best tweets from around the league for a fine sampling of the many delights of the NBA tweet. You won't be disappointed. Maybe you'll even see the melancholy desperation of a borderline, undrafted player from Virginia Tech. Maybe.

Now back to the question at hand: Charile Villanueva or Chris Bosh? Both of them have some serious Twitter skills, and both excel at the medium and seem to genuinely enjoy it. On his side, Charlie Villanueva had one of the more famous tweets when he managed to send an update during half-time of a game he was playing in, drawing the ire of his coach, amongst others. Also, I particularly enjoyed Charlie's blatant lobbying on Twitter to go play with Lebron. Dude's also got a pretty nice game and alopecia. Points all round.

Chris Bosh on the other hand is just awesome. He's a very smart and funny guy with interesting things to say. He's a good sport and seems really nice. He's also a helluva baller, an All-Star and easily considered the third best prize of the epic Class of 2010 behind Flash and the Chosen One. He is also pretty damn weird and maybe the best in the whole NBA at using social media. Why do I say this you ask? Behold!



That's right, he made a weird youtube video framed as a shitty local TV ad to try to get voted into the All-Star game. It worked. Do you not love this man, yet? What if I told you he made a faux-martial arts movie to make fun of Baron Davis for a YouTube showdown they were having?



You have to vote for Chris Bosh. Follow him on Twitter. Check out his other YouTube videos. The man is too wonderfully weird to not reward him and his embrace of social media has made it really fun to be a fan. That should always be rewarded. Sure CV has no hair, but alopecia can't always be the trump card.

Final note: Baron Davis doing strange things in YouTube videos is practically a genre onto itself. I love Baron and it's only a matter of time before I feel compelled to talk more about him. Until then, one of the finest examples of the genre, courtesy of Chris Bosh TV:



NOTE: I'm on Twitter too: www.twitter.com/kellenlc.

ALSO: Fresh on Shaq's Twitter, more proof that he is the most Wu Tang.