25 Must-Follow NBA Writers on Twitter

Twitter has become an invaluable breaking news tool, particularly in the sports world. In a furious flutter of tweets and retweets, the social media site spreads news of lockouts ending, major trades getting approved and blocked, and free agents signing to new teams. Television networks and websites actually look late to the party when they post "big news," because you've already been alerted half an hour ago by 20 of your friends.

Behind every one of those chains of tweets, however, are dedicated reporters working to get you your news quickly. Once the news is out, these reporters and other writers take to Twitter to make the first quip, sort through messes, and answer questions. Using these reasons as criteria, we shook down the pretenders and wannabes to present to you, in alphabetical order, the 25 Must-Follow NBA Writers on Twitter.

Henry Abbott

Handle: @TrueHoop
Publication: ESPN
Followers: 42,002
Why You Should Follow: Henry's handle encompasses the entire TrueHoop blog. We see a lot of breaking and headline news from this account, not only from Henry, but from retweets of many of the other writers on this list.

Sam Amick

Handle: @sam_amick
Publication: Sports Illustrated
Followers: 20,324
Why You Should Follow: Sam has quite a history under his belt. He's been published in AOL Fanhouse, The Sacramento Bee, ESPN.com, The New York Times, and CBS Sports. He's not one of the new-age quippy bloggers, though. Sam takes hard looks at the league, peels back the layers, and gets you the raw truth.

Bruce Arthur

Handle: @Bruce_Arthur
Publication: National Post
Followers: 15,842
Why You Should Follow: We had to have at least one perspective from our northernly neighbors on the list. Bruce has been covering the Toronto Raptors for the Post since 2001. While he focuses on NBA, a variety of sports news and random tidbits about life in Canada seep into his discussion.

Howard Beck

Handle: @HowardBeckNYT
Publication: New York Times
Followers: 23,901
Why You Should Follow: Beck covered the Lakers from '97-'04 and has been in New York covering the Knicks ever since, so he knows a few things about big-market basketball. After working so long with the league's biggest personalities, and keeping his ship afloat in criticism-heavy cities, he knows what he's doing. His feed was invaluable for reports from the Lockout.

Ken Berger

Handle: @KBergCBS
Publication: CBS Sports
Followers: 28,886
Why You Should Follow: Ken provides a great basketball newsfeed with just the right amount of sarcastic humor sprinkled in. Now working for CBS, the former AP writer was there for the "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME" moment, he witnessed Michael Jordan's jumper over Bryon Russell, and he sat in a room with the 50 greatest NBA players during the '97 All-Star weekend. So yeah, he's been there, and he's done that.

Russ Bengtson

Handle: @russbengtson
Publication: Complex
Followers: 8,649
Why You Should Follow: This guy's beard knows 10 times more about the NBA than you. As a former EIC at SLAM and the current sneaker editor at Complex, he not only drops knowledge about the league in a fun and snarky tone, he also keeps you up on those sneaks you saw your favorite player wearing.

Mike Bresnahan

Handle: @Mike_Bresnahan
Publication: Los Angeles Times
Followers: 9,683
Why You Should Follow: Anybody that has constant access to Kobe Bryant is worth following. His tweets are focused mainly on the Lakers and he gives opinions and viewpoints from multiple angles on each topic. Now that Chris Paul is in the same town, his tweets should get all the more interesting.

Myles Brown

Handle: @mdotbrown
Publication: SLAM, ESPN
Followers: 4,045
Why You Should Follow: Although he grew up enthralled by Michael Jordan, Myles experience in basketball reporting has been focused on the Minnesota Timberwolves. In addition to providing valuable info and insight into Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, he'll basically point out anything hilarious happening in his life. And trust us, he sees and hears quite a bit.

Ric Bucher

Handle: @RicBucher
Publication: ESPN
Followers: 147,778
Why You Should Follow: We realize we have a lot of ESPN dudes on here, but when you're at the best publication for sports news, it's going to give you some weight, unparalleled access, and excellent resources. One really nice difference about Bucher's page is the lack of links and retweets. It's clean, and solely him speaking on the topics, rather than shoving other people's tweets down your throat.

Jason Concepcion

Handle: @netw3rk
Publication: SBN
Followers: 4,520
Why You Should Follow: He might not work for a big network or website, but this dude is constantly tweeting about the NBA, providing and pointing out snarky commentary about topics across the league. With all the serious,boring talk from a lot of standard reporters, guys like Netw3rk provide the comic relief that make a twitter timeline fun.

Larry Coon

Handle: @LarryCoon
Publication: ESPN, New York Times, Hoops World
Followers: 16,945
Why You Should Follow: It's called "Larry Coon's NBA Salary Cap FAQ" for a reason. Any questions you might have about salary caps or the collective bargaining agreement, or anything related to contracts, he is your man. Others on the list can make projections based on what they've seen and heard, but Larry can add valuable insight from the numbers game.

Tom Haberstroh

Handle: @tomhaberstroh
Publication: ESPN
Followers: 7,991
Why You Should Follow: No gimmicks here. Tom is a straightforward dude that gets you direct news. If a player says something, he'll tweet exactly what was said without the jokes that some people on this list. attach to every piece of information. As part of the Heat Index, he's a superb follow for Miami fans.

Alan Hahn

Handle: @alanhahn
Publication: Newsday
Followers: 22,988
Why You Should Follow: Alan has been at Newsday since '95 and been the Knicks writer since '06. If you're a New York fan, you'd love this guy. He's extremely up-to-date and has an accurate sense of what's to come.

Zach Harper

Handle: @TalkHoops
Publication: Hoop Speak
Followers: 8,648
Why You Should Follow: He hosts ESPN's Daily Dime Live, helps host Hoop Speak Live, and has built up his reputation as a credible basketball blogger. He started in 2007 with a plan that many of us dream about (writing full-time about basketball), and made it happen for himself, eventually becoming the Kings blogger. His homegrown background is a definite draw.

K.C. Johnson

Handle: @KCJHoop
Publication: Chicago Tribune
Followers: 21,340
Why You Should Follow: As one of the biggest markets in the league, Chicago has rallied behind Derrick Rose in the first meaningful era post-Jordan. If you want a steady stream about the most dynamic point guard in the league and astute observations about the current feelings and direction of the Bulls, look no further.

Trey Kerby

Handle: @TreyKerby
Publication: The Basketball Jones
Followers: 5,940
Why You Should Follow: If you're up on your bball blog game, then you already know Trey. He's been the mind behind The Blowtorch, he was the editor for Ball Don't Lie, and now he's the editor of probably the best-named blog out there: The Basketball Jones. If you want NBA news and commentary in a hilarious setting, Trey is your man.

Zach Lowe

Handle: @ZachLowe_SI
Publication: Sports Illustrated
Followers: 12,625
Why You Should Follow: Zach has previously been deemed a "five-tool blogger." As the former CelticsHub blogger and current writer for SI's The Point Forward, he can do it all. From number-crunching to witty commentary to straightforward analysis, Zach is a fantastic NBA source.

Chris Sheridan

Handle: @SheridanHoops
Publication: Sheridan Hoops
Followers: 31,821
Why You Should Follow: Like many people these days, Chris started his own website. The difference? He's already experienced working for ESPN, has established himself as a credible writer, and doesn't have to force radical commentary to get noticed. He likes to spark debate and hear feedback from his readers.

Bethlehem Shoals

Handle: @FreeDarko
Publication: Formerly Free Darko
Followers: 11,976
Why You Should Follow: Bethlehem is best known for his creation of one of the best-named blogs of all time, Free Darko. When the blog closed (in order for Bethlehem to move to bigger things), many people on this list posted their recognition of the innovation and new style of NBA coverage that the site created. Since, he has appeared in major publications such as GQ and now contributes to The Classical online.

Marc Stein

Handle: @ESPNSteinLine
Publication: ESPN
Followers: 129,817
Why You Should Follow: Marc is a trusted ESPN NBA reporter and often gets the first inside scoop on breaking news. Basically, we're much more willing to believe his sources than anything that comes from Chris Broussard. Shots!

Tzvi Twersky

Handle: @TTwersky
Publication: SLAM
Followers: 2,471
Why You Should Follow: Tzvi is a senior editor at SLAM and a contributing writer at XXL. He's profiled the likes of Chris Bosh, Gerald Wallace, Jason WIlliams, and the Harlem Globetrotters. With his hop-hop mind sprinkled in with the basketball coverage, he's a very entertaining follow.

Lang Whitaker

Handle: @langwhitaker
Publication: SLAM
Followers: 9,827
Why You Should Follow: Lang has been published in SI.com, is an accomplished author, received the NBA Blogger Lifetime Achievement Award from Dan Shanoff, works for SLAM as the editor-at-large, and is a regular on NBA TV. He also went to high school with Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who's now a Kings assistant, so that gives you an idea how old Lang is. Frankly, he's had his hand in far too many things to actually list. He's more than earned your follow.

Brian Windhorst

Handle: @WindhorstESPN
Publication: ESPN
Followers: 39,622
Why You Should Follow: Two words: LeBron James. Windhorst grew up in the same town as LeBron, he went to the same high school as LeBron, he wrote about LeBron for two newspapers in Ohio, and now, he's ESPN's beat reporter for the Miami Heat. These two grew and developed almost as one, and it has given Windhorst incredible insight into not only LeBron but the game itself. He's not a guy you want to pass on.

Adrian Wojnarowski

Handle: @WojYahooNBA
Publication: Yahoo! Sports
Followers: 165,432
Why You Should Follow: With one of the highest followings on this list, it's clear that Adrian is a top choice for breaking news. Once there's a story broken, this guy will make sure know every possible situation, and every detail about what's happening. If you're still learning all the NBA jargon and hoopla, he's a good man to know.

Tom Ziller

Handle: @teamziller
Publication: SB Nation
Followers: 8,051
Why You Should Follow: Considering Twitter allows just about everybody to quickly distribute/retweet player news, that is not a major asset for anybody not actually breaking the news. Ziller's assets come from his overarching look at the league, analyzing why things happened the way they did and how those things affect other teams and players around the league.