NBA Social Media Awards 2012 Winners: Nominees Who Will Get Robbed Tonight
The NBA has always been a trend setter in the Information Age, and now they've taken it a step further with the first annual Social Media Awards.
The awards will celebrate various players, teams, analysts and fans who have helped make the NBA the social media superpower it is today. The awards ceremony will be televised on NBATV at 9 p.m. ET, with former Los Angeles Lakers teammates Shaquille O'Neal (@Shaq) and Rick Fox (@rickafox) hosting the event.
It should be an entertaining ceremony, and although it will surely be a lighthearted affair, nobody knows how to stir up controversy like the NBA. While most awards will go to those who truly deserve it, a few nominees will get completely robbed.
Here are the most likely candidates.
Gerald Green - Social Slam Award
Green had the nastiest dunk of the year, throwing down that fancy windmill alley-oop against the Rockets.
It was original and unexpected, the degree of difficulty was through the roof, and he almost smacked his face on the rim. Most importantly, he caused the other team's bench to freak out.
Unfortunately, Green won't get the award because he plays for the Nets and nobody knows who he is. Although Green deserves it more, the dunk of the year will go to Blake Griffin for his vicious (but slightly overblown) slam on Kendrick Perkins.
Landry Fields and Jeremy Lin - Snap Shot Award
This wasn't as cute (or creepily awesome, in Kevin Love's case) as the other nominees, but this picture is so much more than just a photo.
It sums up Jeremy Lin's meteoric rise from sofas to superstardom, his elevation from a nobody living on ten-day contracts and sleeping on his teammate's couch to a full-blown international phenomenon. It should serve as an inspiration, as a symbol that your dreams can come true no matter how unlikely they may seem.
Unfortunately, Fields' couch will probably lose to Chris Paul's son or Amar'e Stoudemire and his children, because people like cute kids more than furniture.
Kenny Smith - Triple Treat Award
Shaquille O'Neal has already been declared the winner of this award, which is a travesty because he's an awful studio analyst. He's funny at times, but he doesn't provide much basketball insight and he single-handedly ruins Inside the NBA by cutting off Smith and Charles Barkley to make stupid jokes.
This award should have gone to Smith or Barkley, who wasn't even a nominee for some reason.
If not them, I would have been fine with it going to Chris Webber (an excellent color commentary guy), Jalen Rose (always smart and entertaining) or Greg Anthony (who gets major props for doing good work on NCAA and NBA basketball).
All of those guys were deserving candidates, but Shaq won because he can dance and get away with having 30 nicknames. Shameful.
Click here for the complete list of awards and nominees.
