With injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the team’s unexpected jockeying for position in the standings, Lakers fans have a lot to talk about lately. But if you’ve explored Lakers Twitter in recent days, you likely noticed that the focus isn’t on James’ ankle sprain, AD’s calf, or Kyle Kuzma’s latest dye job. Instead, all anyone could talk about on Monday night and into Tuesday morning was a woman named Vivian Flores. In fact, the story is so odd and puzzling that its managed to pierce the world of the purple and gold, sending shockwaves all throughout NBA Twitter,
So who is she Vivian Flores, you ask? Well that’s where the story begins. So first, allow us to introduce you to the popular Lakers podcaster, before trying our best to explain what happened next. Bear with us, because not even the likes of Kevin Durant or O’Shea Jackson Jr. were able to properly make sense of this winding tale of a missing person, catfishing allegations, and the ongoing fallout that has gripped NBA Twitter.
Vivian Flores, who goes by the name of @Butterfly_424 on Twitter, is best known for her work with the blog Laker Fanatics, and her The Lakers Point Point Podcast, which he hosts with Josh Toussaint. In other words, if you’re not deeply invested in the online world of Lakers discourse, you’ve probably never heard of her. No one outside that universe had.
That all changed Monday, when Toussaint tweeted that Flores had gone missing. He called on other members of the Lakers fan community to help find her, and was even allegedly contacted by the Lakers organization who offered to help look for her. He wrote that because she was going through leukemia treatment, she “may or may not be wearing a wig.”
Toussaint’s since-deleted tweets soon went viral, even grabbing the attention of Oshea Jackson, Jr., and Lakers forward, Markieff Morris, both of whom tried to amplify the story to help find her.
On Monday night, Toussaint tweeted that Flores was found safely. But, as the story grew bigger and pierced the insular bubble of Lakers Nation, some cracks started to show.
The story took a wild left turn when people tracked down an old friend of Flores’ online, who goes by the name Chum Zilla. That person responded to inquries about Flores, calling her account a “big catfish.”
The catfishing allegations gained steam on Monday night, when Flores’ alleged ex-boyfriend Kingsley hopped on Twitter Spaces and claimed she catfished him. At one point, Kevin Durant joined the session and seemed pretty disturbed by the allegations.
Once that Pandora’s box was open, the internet did the rest, drumming up loads of evidence poking holes in Flores’ identity, including some pretty egregious photoshop jobs.
Eventually, things led back to Toussaint. Just hours after announcing that she had been found, Toussaint tweeted that he too had been tricked by Flores.
Still haven’t gotten a goddamn explanation. Thought I trusted someone and learned my lesson. Tried to help a friend I thought was in peril. I was duped like yall and feel bad I was a pawn. Such garbage. Logging off for awhile. Stay safe out there. You never know ✌️
— Josh Toussaint (@josh2saint) April 20, 2021
When people became suspicious of him and his possible involvement in the hoax, Toussaint produced a handful of receipts in an attempt to prove that if Flores is indeed a fabrication, he had nothing to do with it.
While some people have a hard time believing Toussaint wasn’t in on it, or even pretending to be Flores himself, he insists that his initial tweet about Flores missing came from a genuine concern about his friend.
Amid all the commotion, Flores briefly deleted her account before emerging on Tuesday to deny the entire situation.
“Y’all be on here, hearing the side of the story of one guy and then automatically assume he is right about everything. I have people on here that can verify who I am. I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. As for me going missing, yes it happened. I passed out from my treatment,” she wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
She then claimed that Kingsley gets to say his side of the story so she should be able to speak her piece as well. The account also attempted to clear Toussaint of any wrongdoing, which only made him look more guilty in the eyes of many.
“Now let’s talk about people assuming that @josh2saint runs this account, are y’all that stupid to think a guy gonna talk like a girl on a podcast. Lmaooo come on now,” she added before vowing to have the last laugh.”
And if you catch yourself believing that Vivian may in fact be real, a video posted from her account on Tuesday might dispel you of that notion.
In the video, a woman claiming to be Vivian holds up a sign spelling her name with an “e,” something Toussaint couldn’t help but point out.
And like the rest of us, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ official Twitter account couldn’t help but get a joke off.
Oshea Jackson Jr. also seemed puzzled/bemused by what had unfolded.
At the time of writing, Vivian’s account is deactivated. And if history has taught us anything, this story is far from over. We’ll keep you posted.
