For the NBA, “where amazing happens” is actually on Twitter.
The microblogging site has been a virtual court for players and fans alike since a deal was tentatively reached to end the NBA lockout last weekend.
Over the last 10 hours, more than 15,000 people have been tweeting about trade rumors, this year’s schedule, and a live question-and-answer segment with New York Knicks star Amare Stoudemire on the official NBA Twitter account.
One of the key components dismissed during lockout negotiation was the so-called “Carmelo Anthony rule,” which would have prevented teams from signing extend-and-trade deals like the one that sent Anthony from the Denver Nuggets to the Knicks last season. That means that the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul—two of the biggest names in basketball—could leverage their way out of their respective cities.
Earlier this week both Chris Paul and the Knicks were trending on Twitter, hinting at a possible trade in the works. Today, a much more more plausible rumor emerged on the microblogging site—both Howard and Paul heading to the 16-time NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers.
“Hoping to pull off a pair of blockbuster moves that would rock the NBA, the Lakers are willing to trade anyone on their roster outside of Kobe Bryant to bring Howard and Paul to Los Angeles,” reported ESPN.
While such a power move would be devastating for smaller markets, fans have been celebrating the rumor on Twitter. In the last seven days, Chris Paul has been mentioned on the site more than 26,000 times, according to Topsy, a social media search engine.
“If Kobe, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are on the same team they might as well not have an NBA Season. Just Lakers vs Heat best of 50,” tweeted Johnny Magnum (@kingmagma).
Other folks were just thrilled to see the official 2011-2012 schedule released. And no tweeter was happier than Stoudemire, who took over the official New York Knicks Twitter account today at 3 p.m. to answer questions from fans.
“its an honor! RT @mkappy: how does it feel to play for an nba team with such great history being one of the OG nba teams? #knickstakeover,” tweeted Stoudemire under the Knicks account.
Photo by YanceyW / Illustration by Fernando Alfonso III