10 Tweets That Lit NBA Twitter on Fire

The moment news broke of Luka Dončić being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA world erupted into virtual flames.

During the Twitter/X era, there have been some moments that chronically online fans simply will not forget. These memories—for better or worse—have burned a place in our basketball-loving brains.

We're talking everything from legitimate transactions to burner accounts and a fight in Temecula.

The list, one solely meant for nostalgia, includes several of the biggest—and strangest—NBA stories of the last 15 years.

Inside the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed in 2011, there was the amnesty clause. The short version is every team could release one player—who would still be paid in full—and have his contract completely removed from salary-cap calculations.

Fast-forward to February 2013, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wondered aloud if the Los Angeles Lakers might consider using the provision on Kobe Bryant.

Well, the Black Mamba took it personally.

Two days later, Kobe dropped 38 points in a 103-99 victory over the Mavericks in their building and quickly took to Twitter.

Man 1 says Russell Westbrook is the best shooting guard in the NBA.

Man 2 disagrees pretty strongly.

The conversation followed that path for a while, tagging in players such as Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant. It devolved into the traditional old pattern of obscene name-calling before ultimately resulting in one memorable soul, MyTweetsRealAF challenging HoopsCritic blogger James, a.k.a. SnottieDrippen, to a real, actual fight.

"How's Temecula sound," he said in a now-deleted post. Our hero James, who lived in Arizona, pretended to agree.

Sure enough, MyTweetsRealAF drove a half-hour-plus to Temecula, California—on Christmas freakin' Day—in hopes of fighting a stranger over an internet beef. He even posted a picture when he arrived.

For years, NBA fans would fake-threaten anyone who disagreed with a simple demand: Meet me in Temecula.

Soon after free agency began in July 2015, it appeared Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan would be returning to his home state and signing with the Dallas Mavericks.

Instead, perhaps the most iconic NBA Twitter saga in the history of NBA Twitter sagas unfolded.

For a complete timeline, my colleague Dan Favale beautifully recapped the events several years ago. Suffice to say, a host of players who were trying to convince Jordan to stay or go—like Chandler Parsons and Blake Griffin—all fired off tweets with emojis only.

But nobody, absolutely no one, both understood the situation and misunderstood technology better than Paul Pierce.

On a quiet day in September 2017, a fan asked Kevin Durant—who memorably left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors—for "one legitimate reason" why he made that decision.

Normal stuff. Probably didn't expect a reply. But, hey, can't hurt to throw the question out there on the internet, right?

What happened next was wildly unexpected.

It quickly fueled a notion that Durant, a perennial All-NBA player at the height of his powers, had a burner account that he would use to defend himself online—which just felt unconscionable at the moment.

Durant has since been vocal about his use of burners on various sites but responds to trolling on his own account, too.

One month later, Twitter sparked trade season.

Eric Bledsoe joined the Phoenix Suns via trade in 2013, and he endured a rough time in the franchise's history. Phoenix won 48 games in his debut year but missed the playoffs, and then the Suns' win total dropped to 39 and continued falling down to 23 and 24.

So, after an 0-3 start to the 2017-18 campaign, five words from Bledsoe set off a firestorm.

Bledsoe said he was actually talking about being at a hair salon with his wife. However, then-general manager Ryan McDonough publicly said he didn't believe Bledsoe and banned him from the team facility.

Phoenix soon traded Bledsoe to the Milwaukee Bucks.

LeBron James revealed he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and take his talents to the South Beach-adjacent Miami Heat during an over-the-top TV announcement in 2010.

Four years later, LeBron used Sports Illustrated as the vessel to share his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In 2018, he took the a much quieter approach.

On the first day of free agency, his agency—Klutch Sports—posted a simple press release that he'd agreed to join the Lakers.

Most contracts are leaked through the media. However, one of the most consequential free-agency decisions in NBA history went out through a branded account with, in comparison, a very modest following.

LeBron is now playing his seventh season on the Lakers, with whom he's won a title and been an All-NBA selection six times.

Not only did the Portland Trail Blazers exit the 2017 and 2018 playoffs in the first round, they also never won a game.

And I know one thing: Jennifer was fed up.

That offseason, Blazers guard CJ McCollum responded to a conversation about ring-chasing. He'd called it "disgusting" in previous interviews and wanted to address that topic on that August afternoon.

Jennifer, however, wanted him to focus on something else: "Win a playoff game then talk," she said.

McCollum's response? Perfect. No notes.

I choose to believe that Jennifer lit a fire under McCollum, who along with Damian Lillard helped the Blazers reach the Western Conference Finals later that season.

There's a certain tenor required when looking back at 2020.

In hindsight, the pandemic and its aftermath are viewed through a range of lenses: political, interpersonal and professional, to name just a few. There is humor to be found, yet many sad things happened.

If we can agree to act like adults, this particular tweet from legendary news-breaker Adrian Wojnarowski was a behemoth.

The league made the decision after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19.

What made the report so notable is the NBA became the first professional entity in the U.S. to pause its season. Soon after, other top American leagues—MLS, the NHL and MLB—followed suit, along with the cancellation of the men's and women's NCAA tournaments.

Vernon Maxwell, a 13-year NBA veteran, does not like the state of Utah. He's said it's because he experienced racial abuse and threats every time he played against the Jazz.

That? Serious.

His post-retirement vendetta? Hilarious.

For nearly a decade, Maxwell has made a habit of taking shots at the Jazz. By far, in my opinion, the funniest moment happened in 2017. Maxwell brought down the technological house.

Maxwell has since pleaded with the Houston Rockets—his team of six seasons—to beat the Jazz because he's "tired of them using our internet" and poked fun at "the best shooters the state had to offer."

We thank you for your service, Vernon Petty Maxwell.

This could become a "where were you when" NBA moment.

As the NBA wrapped up its Feb. 1 slate, a tweet emerged from the account of reporter Shams Charania. Dallas had shipped Luka Dončić to the Lakers for Anthony Davis as part of a larger three-team trade.

But, no, that hadn't really happened, right? Surely, it was a fake account. Check the spelling of his first and last names. Look at the follower count. Heck, maybe even a hacker managed to get ahold of Charania's password and fired off a ridiculous trade to brew up a fun storm.

Well, actually...

What happens now is soundly in the future's hands. Maybe the Mavs pulled off a shocking trade that hindsight remembers was a bold, courageous, proper move. Perhaps it does the exact opposite and gives the Lakers a painless transition into the looming post-LeBron era.

But this report from Shams—on that unsuspecting Saturday night—ignited NBA Twitter like it hadn't been in years.