All 30 NBA Twitter Accounts, Ranked

Which NBA team has the best Twitter account? We ranked all 30 of them.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Earlier this month, we were intrigued by a random Suns/Bucks game on a Tuesday night. And why were we intrigued by a game in Milwaukee between two middle-of-the-pack teams in the dead of winter? Well, our interest was piqued hours before the game when the two teams traded shots on Twitter. The @Bucks started things off by directing a tweet at the @Suns, the @Suns responded, and before we knew it, we were like, "What time does the game start?!"

It was a really effective use of social media on the parts of both teams and it got us to thinking about which NBA franchises have the best Twitter accounts in the business. So we decided to do some digging around on the social media site to compile a list of the best Twitter handles helmed by NBA teams. Here are All 30 NBA Twitter Accounts, Ranked.

48. Indiana Pacers

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Handle: @Pacers

Followers: 514,000

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As we move closer to the Plains States, the personality and presence becomes predictably, well, plain for NBA Twitter accounts. Don't expect no fireworks or bells and whistles from these salt of the earth folks. No sir, they just want their game recaps and player quotes nice and unadulterated, thank you very much. Unfortunately, injury reports and score updates won't curry any favor with us big city types. 

47. San Antonio Spurs

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Handle: @spurs

Followers: 882,000

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If Tim Duncan had a Twitter account, it would likely be one of the most boring Twitter accounts in social media history. But it would still manage to be more exciting than the Spurs account, which is basically just a collection of tweets about player transactions, game notes, and injury reports. To be honest, we really don't expect much more from the Spurs. But unless you're a diehard San Antonio fan, you're probably going to fall asleep sifting through the @Spurs timeline.

45. Chicago Bulls

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Handle: @ChicagoBulls

Followers: 1,950,000

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The Second City's Twitter action is for the blue-collar types, those who just want to catch a score and a highlight. Clearly, Chicago's plan of attack has worked well for them, as they've amassed one of the NBA's largest followings on social media. We won't argue with the results, but the methodology leaves a little something to be desired, in our humble opinion. 

44. Boston Celtics

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Handle: @Celtics

Followers: 1,610,000

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For a team with such a deep tradition, it's fitting that Boston's Twitter is accordingly clean cut. The Celtics regularly rep their old legends, and only collect the driest and least offensive sound bites possible from the players and coaches. Point in case: 


Thrilling!

43. Cleveland Cavaliers

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Handle: @Cavs

Followers: 613,000

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When you've got one of the best players in NBA history on your team, you don't need to do much more than mention him in a tweet for you to start stacking up RTs and favs. Unfortunately, that appears to be Cleveland's dominant strategy, which makes for some great engagement in terms of their numbers, but is pretty boring to read otherwise. Like, we get it: LeBron James is on your team. Now tell us something else about yourself. 

42. Oklahoma City Thunder

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Handle: @okcthunder

Followers: 974,000

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On the court, the Thunder have one of the most exciting teams in the NBA, thanks to the contributions of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. But that excitement doesn't translate to their Twitter game. Sure, they mix in the occasional Vine of KD dunking and share pregame photos that you won't get anywhere else. But whoever runs the account doesn't interact with other teams' accounts much or add a lot of personality to the tweets that are sent out. So you're better off following the Thunder on the court than you are following them on Twitter.

40. New York Knicks

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Handle: @NYKnicks

Followers: 1,120,000

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What's sadder: New York's 8-37 record, or the fact that their most popular tweet of the 2014-15 NBA season only caught its wave thanks to a throng of Beliebers? These are James Dolan's Knicks, you guys. 

39. Miami Heat

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Handle: @MiamiHEAT

Followers: 2,900,000

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Much like the team itself, the best days for the Miami Heat's Twitter have passed. Currently, the account's most starred tweet is its half-hearted show of gratitude for LeBron's abbreviated but gilded stint with the team. These days, the account's presence is more about #HEATgame recaps, PR stunts, and Hassan Whiteside GIFs. Make of that what you will. 

38. New Orleans Pelicans

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Handle: @pelicansnba

Followers: 302,000

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Any time Anthony Davis is on the court, your Twitter timeline is bound to be filled with Vines and tweets about the Pelicans' star player. So why not get all your information directly from the source when it comes to all things AD? If we were to make a suggestion to the folks behind the Pelicans' Twitter account, it's that we'd actually like to see more AD. You guys have him, so why not utilize him more often?

36. Charlotte Hornets

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Handle: @Hornets

Followers: 336,000

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The Charlotte Hornets are a mess on the court. Their Twitter account is far from matching that poor performance, but they aren't particularly memorable either, save one legendary selfie from Michael Jordan.

35. Orlando Magic

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Handle: @OrlandoMagic

​Followers: 1,230,000

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Surprisingly, the Orlando Magic are one of the most-followed teams in the league, entering the rarified air of 1 million followers among teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. Why? We couldn't exactly tell you. The best you'll get from scrolling through Orlando's tweets are #TBT's to the days of Shaq and Penny, or—wait, this photo of Victor Oladipo is awesome. 

34. Washington Wizards

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Handle: @WashWizards

Followers: 334,000

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Washington's Twitter activity is run-of-the-mill relative to other NBA Twitters, but they get extra bonus points for having a consistent Vine game, as well as the occasional chirp. After the 'Zards upset the Chicago Bulls in last year's playoffs, the D.C. social team made sure that none of ESPN's so-called experts would be able to jump on Washington's bandwagon. 

33. Sacramento Kings

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Handle: @sacramentokings

Followers: 295,000

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For the last month or so, the Kings' Twitter account has served one purpose: To try and get DeMarcus Cousins voted onto the Western Conference All-Star team this season. Now that voting is over, we'll miss the #NBABallot tweets that have become a staple of the account. But something tells us we'll see a lot more DMC tweets in the future, especially if he ends up playing in the NBA All-Star Game next month.

32. Detroit Pistons

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Handle: @DetroitPistons

Followers: 348,000

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When the Pistons are on, the Motor City Twitter knows how to mix it up for its followers. Yes, you're going to be subjected to a flurry of game updates and forced promotions, but every so often you'll get some clever puns and, if you're lucky, maybe even a Vine of their mascot, Hooper, silly-stringing a kid into submission. 

 

31. Minnesota Timberwolves

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Handle: @mntimberwolves

Followers: 308,000

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The "fire tweet" here is actually pretty sad. The Timberwolves sent it to the Clippers after the Clips posted a video of Matt Barnes throwing an alley-oop to DeAndre Jordan. But at the very least, it showed that the T'wolves don't take themselves too seriously and know how to kid around on Twitter. It's something they've done a lot in the past and makes them worth a follow, even if you can't stand the product they're putting out on the court right now.

29. Los Angeles Clippers

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Handle: @laclippers

Followers: 674,000

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It seems like there should be more to the Clippers' Twitter account, doesn't it? They have one of the best point guards in the NBA, two of the best dunkers in the league, and a bunch of other players who do some pretty crazy things on the court on a night in, night out basis. So why aren't there more videos and Vines on the Clips' Twitter feed? Fortunately, the Clippers do provide plenty of info for their fans. But a lot of is is promotional material as opposed to stuff that shows that the Clips want to interact with people.

27. Memphis Grizzlies

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Handle: @memgrizz

Followers: 357,000

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Some free advice for the Grizz: Let Justin Timberlake tweet from your account on occasion during games! He set the Internet on fire back in November when he shut a Twitter troll down with a single tweet. And we're betting he could add some more life to your account.

Now about these "lovely ladies" at the FedEx Forum…

25. Utah Jazz

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Handle: @utahjazz

Followers: 317,000

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Truth be told, if it wasn't for the burn that the Jazz directed at the Hawks in the tweet above, they probably wouldn't be this high on the list. But that was a great example of an NBA team that's not very good getting a win over a better team through the use of social media. Why don't the Jazz send out more tweets like it?

23. Golden State Warriors

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Handle: @warriors

Followers: 579,000

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NBA teams, take note: This is how you respond to Charles Barkley if he talks bad about your team (Chuck recently said that he thinks the Grizzlies are a better team than the Warriors). The Warriors don't always use Twitter to take shots at people. In fact, they usually stick to what works best—Steph Curry news and Vines. But they took advantage of the situation here and showed why they're almost as exciting on Twitter as they are on the court.

21. Toronto Raptors

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Handle: @Raptors

Followers: 653,000

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For a Twitter account that's ostensibly linked to Drake, the Raptors have done little to tout their connection with the 6 God. Instead, they rely on their #WeTheNorth hashtag and the #RTZ (#RaptorTweetZone) to boost their social presence. On top of that, they're known to show a few flashes of personality every now and then by hopping on some popular memes and GIFs during game-time: 


They were also instrumental in propping up Kyle Lowry's All-Star campaign. You can't beat a Twitter account that's funny and functional. 

20. Denver Nuggets

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Handle: @denvernuggets

Followers: 353,000

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Just about every single NBA teams live-tweets games as they're happening. But most of them do it in a really dry and straightforward manner. The Nuggets have a way of making you feel like you're actually at their games, though, by injecting personality into their tweets. Stuff like this works really well:

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Plus, they trolled LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love so good earlier this season.

17. Houston Rockets

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Handle: @houstonrockets

Followers: 557,000

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The Rockets don't always take shots at opposing players on Twitter. But when they do, the result is this. They also provide followers with more than enough James Harden and Dwight Howard Vines to keep them happy, regardless of whether or not they actually like the team.

16. Los Angeles Lakers

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Handle: @lakers

Followers: 4,170,000

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The Lakers are, hands down, the most popular NBA team on Twitter. While most other teams have a few hundred thousand followers, the Lakers have four million (!). As a result, they steer clear of controversy and don't post anything too crazy. But they do put up a lot of posts on a regular basis and are one of the go-to sources for Kobe Bryant and Nick Young news right now. So it's no wonder why they've got so many followers.

14. Brooklyn Nets

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Handle: @BrooklynNets

Followers: 526,000

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When your NBA team is situated in Brooklyn, and your past owner was Jay Z, Twitter should be a slam dunk. The references you can make and memes you can hop on are aplenty. Thankfully, @BrooklynNets has faithfully obliged, as best proven by their early January sonning of @steviePOPO, a follower who had the gall to call out Brooklyn's promotional chops.  

13. Phoenix Suns

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Handle: @suns

Followers: 373,000

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The problem with a lot of NBA Twitter accounts is that it sometimes feels like they're being run by robots. Not the Suns account. If you @ them in a tweet, there's a good chance that you'll hear back from them (go ahead and try it and let us know how it works out for you). And in the past, they've started all kinds of trouble on Twitter by @-ing teams and people in tweets. For example, the @Suns account got into it with the Mavericks and Mark Cuban last July during a summer league game. They also sent out the tweet above to troll the Mavs after Dallas started following Rajon Rondon on Twitter right before making a trade for him. Unfortunately, it means that the Suns are forced to delete tweets at times. But it also means that you never know what the @Suns account is going to tweet next, which is a good reason for you to follow it.

11. Milwaukee Bucks

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Handle: @Bucks

Followers: 295,000

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Who says that a small-market team can't talk a big talk? The Milwaukee Bucks have steadily grown their influence on Twitter, as their social media team has shown a fearlessness to shade other teams... 


...and a willingness to jump on any trending topic.


Even better, their game is almost getting to point where they can back up their talk.

10. Dallas Mavericks

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Handle: @dallasmavs

Followers: 584,000

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Mark Cuban owns the Mavericks. So they obviously have a great presence across just about all of the social media platforms that are out there. And on Twitter, they're super comprehensive and cover everything from games to practices to player interviews to fan events. They don't interact with other teams or fans as much as we'd like, but there's more than enough going on on their timeline on any given day to make up for it.

8. Philadelphia 76ers

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Handle: @Sixers

Followers: 420,000

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Thank God for @Sixers, otherwise Philly fans would have an even tougher time stomaching the concentrated rotgut that is Tankapalooza. The Sixers' Vine presence is strong, they aren't afraid to laugh at themselves, and they also seem to be one of the few NBA Twitter accounts that knows what an emoji is. Kudos! Also, this:


This is just Good Twitter. Also: 


Wow. They've almost made us forget that the Sixers haven't posted a winning record since the lockout-shortened season. 

7. Atlanta Hawks

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Twitter handle: @ATLHawks

Followers: 283,000

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Sitting atop the Eastern Conference in terms of both on-the-court performance and social media presence, the Atlanta Hawks reign supreme as one of the NBA's most engaging Twitter accounts. Inexplicably, Atlanta is one of the NBA's least-followed accounts, which perhaps speaks to their need to boost their profile a bit (also, when your owner and general manager were caught in two separate scandals over the offseason, it's usually time to change the conversation about your team). 

Their current username speaks for itself, as the account is adding a "W" to their name for every win of the team's currently-ongoing win streak. 


These guys are good, in more ways than one.

6. Portland Trail Blazers

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Handle: @trailblazers

Followers: 388,000

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Watching a Blazers' game on Twitter is almost as fun as watching it on TV. Whoever runs the account routinely posts stuff like this during timeouts:

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And this during official reviews:

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And this after big wins:

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And that's just during games. How is it possible that this team doesn't have more followers than it does?

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