Phoenix Suns are “Sports' Most Twitter-ific Team”
The Phoenix Suns wonโt be winning an NBA title this year; they couldnโt even manage to make it to the playoffs. The debacle that was the 2008-09 Phoenix Suns season will likely result in drastic changes this offseason that could spell the end of superstars Steve Nash, Shaquille OโNeal, and Amare Stoudemireโs stays in Phoenix.
That doesnโt mean, however, that the team was unsuccessful in all of their endeavors. In fact, there is one title the team captured during the season, โSportsโ Most Twitter-ific Team.โ
Thatโs right, the Suns have more known Tweeters than any other professional sports franchise! Shaquille OโNeal, Steve Nash, Jason Richardson and Alvin Gentry all have and regularly use Twitter accounts.
TOP NEWS
.png)
Mike Brown Calls Out Refs ๐

Knicks' celebrity row was star-studded for Finals Game 3
.png)
Spurs Get Over Knicks in Game 3
Shaquille OโNeal (THE_REAL_SHAQ) 730,000+ followers
Shaquille OโNeal is by far sportsโ most popular Tweeter, with over 730,000 followers. Shaq tops the next closest athlete, Lance Armstrong by nearly 100,000 followers and is the ninth most popular user on Twitter behind only Ashton Kutcher, CNN,ย Britney Spears,ย The Ellen Show, Twitter itself, Barack Obama and Jimmy Fallon.
Shaq has always claimed to be a marketer, and it appears he is succeeding once again. Not only is the โKing of Twitteroniaโ popular, but he is also, in true Diesel fashion, wildly entertaining. While some athletes post rather meaningless tweets like โgreat win tonight,โ the Big Cactus rarely talks about basketball. Instead Shaq shares his daily thoughts, activities and of course, his sense of humor.
By talking about things other than basketball, Shaq enables fans to connect with him on a more personal level, allowing fans to find common ground with him, besides just a mutual love for the game of basketball.
โStarted my diet the other day, I havenโt cheated yet, I wanna b a calvin klein underwear model, pls dnt laugh, lolโ - THE_REAL_SHAQ 11:55 AM Apr 19th
Steve Nash (the_real_nash) 23,000+ followers
Shaq successfully recruited fellow MVP Steve Nash to join Twitter a few months ago. Unlike his teammate, Nash often talks basketball and is not nearly as active. While Shaq tweets several times a day, Nash tweets on average only a couple times per week. MV-Steve uses his Twitter page to connect with fans, driving them to his personal blog and Facebook page.
Of course, with the Sunsโ season ending early Steve appears to have more time on his hands lately:
โMy dad just beat me in tennis. Heโs 62. He did a triple fist pump on match point. Irritating?! Itโs been that kind of season!โ โ the_real_nash 12:27 PM Apr 17th
Jason Richardson (JRich23) 11,500+ followers
J-Rich tweets about once a week, which is probably a good thing. The last thing we want is for him to get pulled over for tweeting while driving.
โMan its hard watching the playoffs knowing that we should be in it. Back in charlotte trying to plan the rest of my summerโ โ JRich23 6:22 PM Apr 19th
Alvin Gentry (AlvinGentry)ย 3,000+ followers
While some coaches are scolding players for tweeting during halftime, Alvin Gentry appears to be a supporter of twitter. Alvin is active but professional, as an NBA coach should be. Alvin even got his daughter Alexis to join Twitterโฆor did Alexis get Alvin to join?
โ@THE_REAL_SHAQ that could have been us. I still feel so bad for u. Thanks for all u did for me.โ - AlvinGentry 2:13 PM Apr 18th
While Sportsโ Most Twitter-ific Team isnโt the most prestigious title, it does show an effort by the organization to better connect with its fans. Letโs face it, Twitter is exploding and the Suns have always been an organization to embrace two things: technology and their fans.
The title however might not last for long. If either (or both) Steve Nash and Shaquille OโNeal are traded in the offseason the Suns could easily lose the only crown they have left.
For a complete list of all professional athletes on Twitter visit Athletes Who Tweet.






.jpg)