The NBA has established itself as the most successful league to integrate itself with social media. The league itself is one of recognizable stars, so it only makes sense that these players further their personal brands through means like Twitter and... ahem... UStream. It's a great opportunity for players to connect with their fans in a meaningful way, on their own terms. As long as they use it responsibly and don't do anything to draw undo negative attention to themselves, it's nothing but a win-win.
In completely unrelated news, Michael Beasley did something that doesn't look too bright right now. Why, do you ask?
On Tuesday, some comments Brendan Haywood made about Stephon Marbury and perceived homosexual behavior in Marbury's lifestreaming escapades came to light. In short, Haywood said that because Marbury got a shirtless massage from a male friend and danced to a disco song on video, no NBA player would want to share a locker room with him. Because, you know, he might be gay. Kelly Dwyer and Kevin Arnovitz have both responded in exemplary fashion -- read those reactions if you care at all about the issue.
Haywood has since posted what he dubs an apology on Yardbarker. As an avowed fan of the newly unfiltered relationship between athletes and fans, I'm encouraged that Haywood knew enough to know he needed to apologize. But in that apology, Haywood invokes the name Tim Hardaway (as in, "I wasn't trying to come off like Tim Hardaway") and offers up ye old "if it doesn't affect me, I don't really care" response to the very existence of homosexuality.
In other words, Haywood notifies us that he will continue to be a part of the problem.
Taking a page from Marbury's playbook, Ron Artest went ahead and gave his phone number out to his over 29,000 followers on Twitter. And just to make sure you knew he was really answering those calls himself, Artest made a little video clip of the stunt, which of course we have for you below. It's so serious.
In our inaugural edition of the NBA Twitter mailbag, we've got some interesting topics to get us started. How will Shaq's ego fit in Cleveland? Is Kevin Durant getting the attention he deserves? And what's left on the Celtics' summer to-do list?
As the seemingly endless hours of live video from Stephon Marbury continue to pile up, one thing has become clear: This is no longer must-see TV.
Between simply flooding the market with content and the fact that no one in the world can be entertaining for that many consecutive hours at a time, the Marbury experiment has devolved into a deranged, sad event that fewer and fewer people are finding compelling for any sort of positive reason.
But hey, that doesn't mean there won't be highlights! Take the following video clip, for example, where Marbury's car gets hit as he's coming to you live from the back seat.
Some day scholars will find footage of Stephon Marbury's 24-hour marathon interactive uStream broadcast, and they will structure curricula around it. The marathon chat session, which began early Friday, concluded Saturday morning. Just before his alarm signifying a full 24 hours of broadcast went off at 9 AM ET, Starbury told some 800 live viewers how he felt.
"I love you all," Marbury said. And the feeling's mutual -- it's amazing how well-received this effort was around the web, no matter the negative stigma attached to Starbury as an NBA player.
Stephon Marbury is one of the most unique personalities in the NBA. Some like to categorize him as crazy, but he's really just refreshingly open and honest in letting us know what's going on inside his head.
And thank God for that. Because in an unprecedented act of either self-promotion or unfiltered access, Marbury has decided to interact with fans live over the internet, via a video channel on the Ustream web site.
Going on Ustream isn't new, but the amount of time Marbury is committing to it is: he's planning on sticking it out for 24 hours.
Stephon Marbury is one of those weird characters who has just the right mix of "crazy" and "keepin' it real" where you can't ever be sure whether to trust or distrust him. Personally, I think he's a bad apple who keeps getting too many chances, but some people feel differently.
After Marbury recently did a Knickerbocker-beat-down of an interview with the New York Post, I would imagine no one who plays professional basketball in the Big Apple is much of a fan either. Marbury's quotes are full of disparaging remarks, as he essentially urged any free agents to avoid Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni like the plague.
This is a case where championship experience really came into play. One team had it, and the other team didn't know what it was.
The Boston Celtics may have struggled and trailed throughout the night, but they knew when and how to rally, protecting their home-court advantage with a come-from-behind, 92-88 victory over the Magic. The Celtics took a 3-2 lead in this best-of-seven series.
The Celtics were cool down the stretch when they made a 13-0 run, sending the Magic into a panic from which they never recovered. The Magic, who haven't been past the second round of the playoffs since 1996, unraveled like a team that never had played in this kind of pressure before.
Celtics 92, Magic 88: Recap | Box Score Celtics Lead 3-2 | Next Game: Thursday @ Orlando, 7 PM ET
CHICAGO -- In a tough, snarling, watch-your-back kind of city, someone decided to get too cute Thursday evening. Throughout the United Center, trails of rose petals were spread to celebrate Derrick Rose's arrival as the NBA's premier rookie. They were placed on seats, in the aisles, atop the sideline tables, pretty much everywhere but on the Jordan statue.
What was this, a social gala? And didn't the marketing mopes realize that the Boston Celtics, whose demise as NBA champions was being roundly forecast, are a proud team that wouldn't take well to gimmicks and might want to make the Chicago lads slip on their own stems?
Celtics 107, Bulls 86: Read Live Blog | Recap | Box Score Celtics Lead 2-1 | Next Game: Sunday, 1 PM ET @ Chicago
The NBA has established itself as the most successful league to integrate itself with social media. The league itself is one of recognizable stars, so it only makes sense that these players further their personal brands through means like Twitter and... ahem... UStream. It's a great opportunity for players to connect with their fans in a meaningful way, on their own terms. As long as they use it responsibly and don't do anything to draw undo negative attention to themselves, it's nothing but a win-win. 
On Tuesday, some comments 
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As the seemingly endless hours of live video from 
Some day scholars will find footage of 
This is a case where championship experience really came into play. One team had it, and the other team didn't know what it was.
CHICAGO -- In a tough, snarling, watch-your-back kind of city, someone decided to get too cute Thursday evening. Throughout the United Center, trails of rose petals were spread to celebrate 
