As the NBA season rolls into its postseason this weekend, there's a certain comfort in being an NBA fan. Following the league—one flushed with likable superstars coming of age while the Internet and second screens have fans plugged into their every movement—feels like the best time:entertainment deal in American sports. This NBA season, however, was the first that accessibility and transparency with players and the games they play fully molded with today's instantaneous content sharing modes. Basically: Vine took over.
For the first time, highlight-reel NBA actions—the dunks, assists, dribbles—the things that occur in four second bites but were formerly buried within multi-minute SportsCenter video packages, are being recorded, uploaded, and disseminated up and down your timeline for immediate consumption. The fact that the NBA, unlike other professional sports leagues, are underhandedly encouraging the piracy of their highlights, shows how powerful the platform is. While some leagues police their copyrighted videos on Vine or YouTube, the NBA is laissez-faire about it all.
The NBA may have its own Vine account, but as you'll see, most of the good shit is freely thrown up by fans, media members, and even players. Vine has made following the NBA easier and more fun than ever, and with that, let's get into the videos that the Association the darling of the Internet: Ranking the 50 Best Vines From the 2014-15 NBA Season.
51. Nick Young: “Nobody in the World Can Guard Me One on One”
50. We're Not Shading Kobe
49. Reggie Jackson Hooked Up On Starting Point Guard Juice
48. Down Goes Shaq
47. Ball, Meet LeBron's Hand
46. Getting Your Money's Worth
45. Joey Crawford Can Fly
44. Noah Calls LeBron a P***y
43. Someone Catch Jarrett Jack
42. The Nine-Step Travel
41. J.R. Smith's New York Homecoming
40. Coast to Coast Curry
39. Double Birds For LeBron
38. Oh No, Jose Calderon
37. Get Some Arc On That
36. Greek Freak Takes Strides
35. Dirk Nowitzki Brags About His D*ck
34. Otto Porter is Moving On Tape Delay
33. Hey, Nice to Meet You, Zach LaVine
32. Kobe Speaks the Truth
31. Blake Griffin, Like Shmurda's Hat, Hasn't Come Down Yet
30. WE JUST FORM A F*CKING WALL
29. Anthony Davis Glo'd Up
28. Wiggins vs. Stifle Tower
27. Eric Bledsoe Ages 10 Years in 6 Seconds
26. Flop of the Year?
25. Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving NOT SMOKING
24. Chris Paul Glitches
23. A Decent Steph Curry Pass
22. Russell Westbrook is Laughing At You, Not With You
21. Brandon Knight Spazzes Out
20. Derrick Williams Makes the First Bismack Biyombo Poster
19. Andrew Wiggins Collecting Bones Already
18. Boogie Checks Out
17. LeBron Deathstare
16. Russell Westbrook: Bat Outta Hell
15. How Dad Dances
14. Joakim Noah Catching Dimes From DeMar DeRozan
13. “Tell Me What's Wrong, Kevin”
12. Steph Curry Can't Bear to Watch
11. Trevor Booker Uses Witchcraft
10. James Harden Puts Ricky Rubio On His Hands and Knees
9. Your Knicks, Ladies and Gents
8. Five Times For Kobe
7. Steve Ballmer Is Lit
6. Dion Waiters is Always Open
5. Flying Objects May Appear
4. We're All Playing In Steph Curry's Video Game, and He's Winning Every Level
Date: 3/8/2015
Game: Clippers @ Warriors
This play is Drake's entire “6 Man” verse in one NBA Vine. Steve Kerr's reaction was priceless:
3. Steph Got Chris
2. “These Motherf***ers Ain't Doing Sh*t For Me”
