Credit Dexter Fowler for predicting the return of the NBA

Yahoo! Sports

Sat Nov 26 03:47pm EST

Credit Dexter Fowler for predicting the return of the NBA

Credit Dexter Fowler for predicting the return of the NBA As NBA reporters go, it's hard to beat Yahoo! Sports' combination of Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc Spears. Unless you're Dexter Fowler (notes), outfielder for the Colorado Rockies. He managed to beat every NBA reporter on the planet when it came to announcing the end of the NBA lockout.

Reports from standard sources started coming in late Friday night and early Saturday morning that the five-month-old lockout was ending and opening day would be Dec. 25. But if you follow Fowler on Twitter, NBA Christmas really came Wednesday when he told the world:

Word on these streets is the NBA is BACK!!

Just to be clear, Fowler wasn't just pie-in-the-sky hoping like most NBA fans. He had hard news that was just begging to be confirmed. Jason Heyward (notes) of the Atlanta Braves asked for a clarification:

"@JasonHeyward: word? RT @DFowler24: Word on these streets is the NBA is BACK!!"<-- That's what I'm hearin!

Word? Word. That's what he's hearing. And he was right. He's a regular Carnac, this guy.

Fowler batted .266/.366/.432 for the Rockies in 2011, and at 25 years old offers the promise of more on the baseball field. But if that doesn't work out, he could always transition into NBA reporting. He must have good sources. (Hmm, Denver ... Kiki Vandeweghe? Fat Lever? Blair Ramussen?)

In a previous life, Fowler was recruited by Miami (the U., not the MAC) and by Harvard (the actual Harvard) to play basketball. He was, as the kids say, a baller. Fortunately for us because we love baseball more, he turned down hoops and is playing in the major leagues. But he'll always have a piece of his heart on the hardwood. And for that, NBA/Rockies fans on Twitter can be grateful.

Big BLS h/t: Troy Renck of the Denver Post.

Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave — and get to know The Stew on Facebook.