Advertisement

Report: NBA to prohibit 'mocking and/or ridiculing' statements from player or team social media accounts

Kelly Dwyer
Mark Cuban pre (L) and post (R) tweet. (Getty Images)
Mark Cuban pre (L) and post (R) tweet. (Getty Images)

The NBA was the first of all major North American sports leagues to not only embrace the rise of the world wide web, but the social media revolution that followed a decade or so later. It has also benefitted greatly from its insistence that its fans are allowed to freely shared NBA-derived content (peep this Ime Udoka mix) on all manner of websites or social media releases.

[Read & React Newsletter: 5 great stories from the Yahoo Sports blogs in your inbox every morning!]

The NBA might also be the first team to draw a line, however unofficial, in the sand regarding the jabs that teams and players throw at each other with their @ replies, or (whatever the NBA deems to be) worse.

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon released information about a memo sent to each squad, as they attempt to rein in the many accounts of its teams’ players, coaches, front office workers and (especially) their teams’ social media arm:

The NBA sent a memo to all 30 franchises this week regarding rules prohibiting the “mocking and/or ridiculing” of opponents or game officials by teams on social media.

The memo from NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum stated that some recent social media postings on official team accounts had “crossed the line between appropriate and inappropriate” and cited concern that “such conduct can result in ‘Twitter wars’ between players that can cause further reputational damage and subject players to discipline by the League.”

The memo cited three specific examples of material that would be inappropriate for posts on official team accounts: Disparage, belittle or embarrass an individual opponent or game official; Mimic or impersonate an opponent or game official in a negative manner; or Criticize officiating or the NBA officiating program.

[ | Mock Draft | The Vertical | Latest news]

The three examples may have included the hilarious (yet rather one-sided) back and forth between oft-injured Memphis Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons, and Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum.

The discussion between those two and the Trail Blazers’ Twitter account was funny to all, but there’s no denying it vaulted from harmless to somewhat cruel with McCollum’s final twist:

The recent work of the Sacramento Kings may also have been noted, including the team’s well-shared digs at two of the 18 teams they’ve downed in 2016-17 (they’ve beaten the Pistons, Raptors and Timberwolves twice!):

[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

You probably also recall the time when, during the 2015 postseason, the man running the Houston Rockets’ Twitter account decided to offer this brand of analysis …

(Courtesy Twitter.com)
(Courtesy Twitter.com)

… which later led to an apology from, um, someone else at Twitter.com/Rockets …

… and the eventual parting of ways between the original author and the Rockets.

And who could forget the tweet that started it all? Charlie Villanueva, then a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, tweeting at halftime:

… prior to the NBA establishing the Charlie Villanueva Rule, which prohibits players from tweeting or sending out any other social media missives from 45 minutes to tipoff of that night’s game, darting through the contest itself and until after each player has fulfilled his postgame media obligations.

Charlie, to his credit, had a better idea for the new law:

It’s unclear as to how the NBA’s new outlines will shape things, and if a collectively-bargained bit of branding law would need to take shape. The league was smart to use language about officials, as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was the first NBA family member to be fined for his or her work on Twitter – back in 2009, after he lashed out at the refs to the tune of $25,000 in payment.

The NBA is also likely smart enough to understand that each team’s social media crew probably owns gigs that are as challenging as they are enriching and fun. The voices have to represent the team, the city and its culture. They have to entertain without offending, while still retaining the edge and humor needed to distance themselves from the sort of boiler plate studies in blandness you’ll get from official team releases, or too-slow news from the team’s official website.

The league was way ahead of its time in its commitment to social media – witness the over four million accounts that follow the league on its official Twitter feed – but it’s also right to shake a little stick when things get out of hand.

C.J. McCollum’s diss of Chandler Parsons was too real not to hurt. And a Sacramento Kings club, working at ten games under .500 at the time, probably should recognize the larger scoreboard at hand here while celebrating an overtime win against a championship Cleveland team.

Whatever the impetus, the league appears to consider individual memos sent toward offending teams unsatisfactory, as the NBA has its language in place.

Now we’ll have to see if the voices behind these accounts will follow suit.

– – – – – – –

Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!