Keep those Crying Jordan memes under control,Belgium guys.
In an effort to prevent the "mocking and/or ridiculing" of other teams and officials online, the NBA released a memo to all 30 teams detailing new social media conduct rules, ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported Thursday.
SEE ALSO: NBA becomes first sports league to create a gaming leagueAccording to the league, some recent social media behavior “crossed the line between appropriate and inappropriate.”
One example comes to mind. The Portland Trail Blazers trolled Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons on Twitter after this comically bad shot last month.
To be fair, the NBA 3-point line is really, really far away from the basket. pic.twitter.com/dHusI9cHcW
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 28, 2017
A back-and-forth ensued.
@trailblazers good luck in the lottery show this year✊🏻
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) January 28, 2017
@CJMcCollum stop it. Technically, I hit the lottery.
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) January 28, 2017
The new rules are intended to help avoid Twitter wars like these. Here are three specific examples of what teams can't do on social media anymore, per MacMahon:
Disparage, belittle or embarrass an individual opponent or game official.
Mimic or impersonate an opponent or game official in a negative manner.
Criticize officiating or the NBA officiating program.
The rules also seem to reference another Premium Troll Moment™ from last month. The Sacramento Kings, now a 10th place team, eked out a victory over the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, and sent a pair of cheeky tweets their way.
This one's for the Land... pic.twitter.com/GiJ2wSEoOZ
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 26, 2017
CLEVELANDDDD THIS IS FOR YOU!!! pic.twitter.com/xPu89PnTQQ
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 26, 2017
That's a big fat L (referring to the loss) in place of the Cavs' logo, and Kings star DeMarcus Cousins handing Cleveland a similarly gigantic L. Sacramento busted out the same trick in October, this time poking fun at the Phoenix Suns before this season even started.
.@Suns 👇 pic.twitter.com/uBCJjgG3ck
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 27, 2016
Though the new rules might seem to suck some fun out of the NBA, they're nothing compared to the NFL's social media guidelines, which threatened to hand out ridiculous fines for posting GIFs and other content featuring game footage.
They eased up on those guidelines later on, but by social media standards, the NBA is still football's cooler, hipper younger brother.
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Topics Social Media