NBA Surpasses One Billion Likes & Followers

15 Feb 2016 | tshego

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced it is the first professional sports league to surpass one billion social media likes and followers.

The league’s one billion likes and followers includes all league, team and player accounts combined across social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram along with Tencent and Sina in China.

The NBA’s social media following includes 28.5 million likes on the league’s Facebook page, 19.5 million @NBA followers on Twitter, and 12.7 million @NBA followers on Instagram and has also surpassed one billion Vine loops.

Give it up for #KobeBryant… as he exits his final NBA All-Star Game!https://t.co/3l3kdUDRFl

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2016

Twelve-time NBA All-Star LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers tops all NBA players on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, while the Los Angeles Lakers are the most followed NBA team on social media.

Rounding out the top five NBA players on social media are the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant, the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, and the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony. Eight of the top 10 players on the list were selected to participate in NBA All-Star 2016 and nearly 90% of NBA players are on at least one social media platform.

The Lakers are followed on the top teams list by the Chicago Bulls, Heat, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors.

The NBA was the first professional sports league to include its social media handle on its official game ball when it added the @NBA handle prior to the 2014/15 season.