Of America’s four major sports leagues, none are more Internet-friendly than the NBA. This doesn’t just mean that the league has the best highlights on the web – the Association seems to be way more lax than the NFL, MLB or NHL when it comes to people making gifs or Vines of things that happen during games and posting them.
As it turns out, this is something the league takes pride in, according to an interview that commissioner Adam Silver gave to The Wall Street Journal.
This is not just a matter of superfans and their phones. The commissioner believes this tech is effectively redrawing the NBA map—where the attention and power is, and more important, where it can go, which is basically anywhere. Silver maintains other factors are contributing to this evolution, including a revised collective bargaining agreement in 2011 which imposed a dramatic luxury tax upon big-spending teams.
But the social media may be the biggest factor, he said.
Silver, of course, follows along with all of this, but not in a way that you would expect. Since he doesn’t have an official account, the commissioner keeps a thumb on the pulse of Basketball Twitter through a “stealth account.” When he wants to tweet, he’ll hop onto the official NBA account and throw something out.
The fact that Silver has a secret Twitter account that he uses to see what’s happening on the site is awesome. As for trying to figure out what his handle is, well, here’s everyone who comes up when you search “Adam Silver.” Good luck.
(via The Wall Street Journal)
