Another year coming to a close means a new batch of athletes and sports organizations who probably shouldn’t have pressed send on a social media post.
But ironically this year, the most dominant figure in sports social media wasn’t an athlete. It was President Trump. From rants about the Take a Knee movement and teams refusing to go to the White House to bashing LaVar Ball for not being grateful, the leader of the United States has been at the center of attention ever since he took office.
With that being said, there were still plenty of athletes and teams who took the spotlight for their embarrassing antics online. We found out that the 2017 NBA Finals MVP cares what every fan thinks about him. We also found out that the man we call “Porzingod” is actually human after he was repeatedly denied by an Instagram model.
Once a social media post is shared, there is no turning back. The honorees on this year’s list would’ve benefited from the lack of a screenshot option but, luckily for us, that’s not that case. Enjoy our third annual edition of the most embarrassing sports social media fails of 2017.
LeBron calls out Donald Trump.
Date: September 23
Individuals: LeBron James, Donald Trump
President Trump has been at the center of nearly every sports Twitter controversy in 2017. He took shots at the NFL—Colin Kaepernick specifically—and LaVar Ball, but when Trump decided to call out the baby-faced, two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry, it triggered a response from the face of the league. James didn’t hold back, calling Trump a bum. When LeBron is publicly backing his arch rival, you know you done messed up. The tweet is now the most retweeted tweet by an athlete of all-time and ranks 18th on the list of most retweeted tweets of all-time. Well done, LeBron.
Dolphins assistant coach gets caught snorting something.
View this video on YouTube
Date: October 9
Individual: Chris Foerster
What’s the quickest way to lose your high-profile job? Record yourself allegedly doing cocaine and send it to your “lover,” hoping that it will never be released to the public. That’s the route former Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Chris Foerster chose. He recorded a clip of himself snorting “white substances” and sent it to his female friend, who eventually exposed him on her personal Facebook page. Foerster resigned immediately after he was exposed before he received the pink slip. Not only did he lose the girl but he also lost his entire career and any hope of finding another decent job in life. To cut him some slack, that Dolphins offense could make a man go crazy.
Kevin Durant has burner accounts.
Date: September 17
Individual: Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant makes $26.5 million a year and is an eight-time all-star, NBA champ, and NBA MVP but he still goes home and reads all your comments on social media. Not only does he read your comments but he responds to most of them from a different account on Instagram and Twitter. Durant was caught on Twitter when he responded to a fan in third person talking about himself. NBA fans moonlight as detectives would later find out that he does the same on Instagram. Although Durant owned up and admitted to it, it doesn’t make it any less lame.
Dwight Howard gets traded after asking fans for opinions on NBA transactions.
Date: June 20
Individual: Dwight Howard
Howard has consistently been the butt of jokes ever since his decline from his superstar status. He’s been on three different teams in the last three years and it seems like he can’t fit in wherever he goes. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Howard picked the wrong day to interact with fans on Twitter and gauge thoughts on the recent NBA offseason moves. Exactly five minutes after he asked fans for their takes, Howard was traded from Atlanta to Charlotte. You can’t make these things up. Maybe Howard was hinting at his trade but that’s hard to believe.
Bears account roasted during its Thursday night blowout loss.
Date: September 28
Organizations: Butterfinger, Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears aren’t very good at football, at least they haven’t been for the past several years. Apparently, the embarrassment on the field has trickled into their social team. In what was probably the most random Twitter conversation of 2017, the Bears account and the Butterfinger, yes the candy, account got into a back and forth roasting session during the Bears-Packers Thursday night game. The Bears social team got in its feelings and responded to a joke made by Butterfinger after. It eventually evolved into the Butterfinger social team unleashing a new level of savagery by roasting the Bears after every Green Bay touchdown as the Packers went on to destroy Chicago, 35-14. When you don’t win games, you’re always going to have a hard time smack talking anyone.
Jim Irsay tweets picture of naked woman.
Tomi Lahren’s D-Day tweet about Kaepernick backfires.
Date: November 23
Individuals: Tomi Lahren, Colin Kaepernick
If President Trump is the most hated individual in the United States, Tomi Lahren isn’t far behind. On Thanksgiving morning, Lahren tweeted an edited photo of Colin Kaepernick kneeling in front of the scene at D-Day to illustrate her point that Kaepernick is unpatriotic. The post was in response to Kaepernick winning GQ’s Citizen of the Year. Well, it was pretty silly and for the most part, the responses backfired.
Le'Veon Bell’s DM attempt stuffed at the goal line.
Porzingis gets rejected by Instagram model.
Date: August 14
Individuals: Kristaps Porzingis, Ines Nikic
It seems like Porzingis can do no wrong as he’s conquered New York and silenced all the early critics. The saying is if you make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. Unfortunately, this does not apply to Porzingis’ love life. The Knicks star tried to slide in the DMs of IG model Ines Nikic and he sent his shot into the first row. Nikic ended up exposing Porzingis by putting the attempt on blast. She kept pouring salt in the wound when she then trolled him with a picture of her and her boyfriend kissing. Just look at that savage caption.
Mark Cuban pouts over Bleacher Report tweet.
Date: February 25
Individuals: Mark Cuban, Bleacher Report
Cuban may be the most petty and emotional owner in all of sports. The 59-year old longtime owner of the Dallas Mavericks seems to get triggered easily. When Bleacher Report tweeted out a clip of Dirk Nowitzki airballing a jumper and captioned it “Dirk Forever,” Cuban snapped. He tweeted “Delete Your Account” at Bleacher Report to go along with several emails he sent to Turner president David Levy, complaining about the offensive tweet. Not only did he complain, Cuban eventually threatened Levy and Turner by saying “this is an issue where if it’s not immediately down, I’ll communicate with the millennials in the way I know how to. Your choice.” Wait, there’s more. Cuban even included NBA commissioner Adam Silver in the email. In the end, Cuban and Bleacher Report deleted their tweets and Bleacher Report apologized to Nowitzki for the post.
Markelle Fultz forgets to update caption.
Date: June 22
Individual: Markelle Fultz
Fultz had one job. After he walked across the stage at Barclays Center as the No. 1 pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, Fultz and his social team had the responsibility of posting ads on Fultz’s social media accounts for his sponsors. It’s clear that each sponsor rep sends out a template but in Fultz’s case, he just posted the template sent from Tissot without filling in the blanks. Good job, rookie.
Ravens tweet weird picture of Queen Elizabeth.
Date: September 19
Team: Baltimore Ravens
Before the Ravens got trounced 44-7 by the Jaguars in London, their social media team had an embarrassment of its own. To mark the occasion of playing overseas, the Ravens thought it would be cool to decorate Queen Elizabeth’s face. The resulting creepy picture happened to violate The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing. There’s a rule that states: “members of the royal family should not normally be shown or mentioned in a marketing communication without their prior permission…” The tweet was quickly deleted.
JR Smith tweets “Cavs in 7.”
Date: June 12
Individual: JR Smith
You can’t blame JR Smith for tweeting “Cavs in 7.” His team had climbed out of a 3-1 deficit before in 2016 and he believed that they could do it again. The one problem was the 2015-16 Warriors squad didn’t have the second best player on the planet in Kevin Durant. There was really no chance of the Cavs coming back and in Game 5, the Warriors blew Cleveland out of the water. Smith claimed he was hacked by someone but we all know JR too well to believe that.
Chargers get roasted over new logo.
Date: January 12
Team: Los Angeles Chargers
When the Chargers made the move to Los Angeles, the organization tried to re-brand itself with a new logo. Unfortunately, it backfired and quickly became the laughing stock of the entire internet forcing the organization to go back to the drawing board. It got to a point where other professional teams joined in on the banter.
Diamondbacks use “KKK” for promotional tweet.
Magic reveal offseason plans.
Date: April 4
Team: Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic thought it was welcoming new signee Patricio Garino but in the background of the tweet was a white board, revealing what looked like offseason plans. There were two lists of “Hybrid” players that the team can acquire through trade or free agency. The lists included names like Andre Iguodala, Jabari Parker, Rudy Gay, and Paul Millsap. The Magic ended getting absolutely no one on either list and now is struggling through another abysmal season.
