Professional sports has been one of the industries that has best embraced and utilized social media. Fans now have unparalleled access to their favorite quarterbacks, 1st basemen and point guards, and in turn, athletes get direct access to their fans without having to participate in a staged event. So in honor of the upcoming NBA All-Star weekend (my favorite All-Star event of all professional sports), I chose my NBA social media All-Stars - one from the West and one from the East.
Representing the Western Conference, from the University of Texas and featuring quick Twitter hands, Kevin Durant!
By taking one look at Durant’s website, you’ll instantly realize that he not only has a great all-around game on the court but also in interacting with his fans through his various social media platforms. His website features prominent links to his YouTube page, Facebook fan page, Twitter handle and a link to vote him into the All-Star game.
On his Facebook page, which has over 800,000 “likes,” he provides his fans with a behind-the-scenes preview of his new sneakers, posts links to his interviews and encourages his fans to upload pictures of them in his jersey or with his signature sneakers.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, Durant not only regularly replies to his nearly 500,000 followers but he gives his fans a glimpse into what his thoughts are after a tough loss and what he does with his free time, which, not surprisingly, often consists of watching basketball, joking with friends and listening to Jay-Z.
Lastly, Durant takes social media full circle by promoting and inviting fans to in-person events. Durant is hosting a Nike event in Santa Monica on Feb. 17 and fans can RSVP for the event via his Facebook page, and he is even providing a livestream for fans who can’t attend. In addition to all of this, Durant has his own URL shortener, tag cloud and a “partners” Twitter stream that features tweets from his corporate partners.. I would argue that no NBA All-Star has a better presence on social media than this rising superstar.
Representing the Eastern Conference, standing at 6′8″ and better known as King James, LeBron James!
Although LeBron is still being criticized for his “Decision” fiasco last summer, he has been trying to make up for his misstep by providing his fans with a wide variety of ways to interact with him. LeBron does a lot of the things that Durant does on Twitter and Facebook but he steps his game up when it comes to providing his fans with inside access to his life beyond basketball. On LeBron’s website, he has a “gift guide” of his favorite things interviews with people in the fashion and music industries, and insight into what he eats and how he stays in basketball shape.
His Facebook page, which has over 5 million “likes,” asks his fans engaging questions to encourage discussion such as “What’s the better Super Bowl snack?” and “What is your favorite Jordan moment?”
Additionally, although his website is graphic heavy, his team made sure that it was accessible via mobile phones, in particular iPhones, which a number of websites from his fellow All-Stars did not take into consideration. LeBron may have some detractors but his social media presence will win over a lot of fans.
Bonus All-Star Honor
Hoopism - Because the NBA has allowed fans to post and edit their own video clips of games and highlights (unlike some other leagues), it has allowed for the emergence of a video visualization of every NBA Slam Dunk Contest video by year and a collection of the NBA’s Greatest Shots, which is organized by where it was taken on the basketball court. If you have the chance, take a look and play around with both gifts from hoopism.com.
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