MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Football fans have been sidelined, baseball fans are out, and basketball fans are filling up the social media court.
When it comes to social media, basketball fans are the most digitally connected sports fans.
There was a time when basketball was only on the court, and if you wanted to talk trash or praise it was person to person. Basketball fan Joshua Duncan says, "They may have their time next season but not this season I don't see it happening."
But times have changed. As Duncan updates his Facebook status he says, "All you Heat fans get ready to be disappointed, I'm going to post it right now."
The new way to interact is social media and basketball fans are winning this one. Lesley Torrell is the director of internet marketing and web development for the Grizzlies. She says, "On Facebook we have over 200,000 followers. About 90,000 on Twitter."
NBA.com has the largest following among social media. The Grizzlies only have one employee dedicated to the web but she gets help from a few of Memphis's biggest names. "You may know a guy named Tony Allen," she says.
Allen has more than 35,000 followers on his now infamous Twitter account and whether the tweet is about basketball, or the voices in his head, his Twitter has gained national attention. "Tony is his own animal on Twitter and that's 100 percent him," Torrell says.
13 of the Memphis Grizzlies are on Twitter and their fan base grows daily. "Rudy's active, Mike Conley's active, OJ's active, Zach," Torrell explains, "A lot of our younger players, it's second nature to them now."
Chris Landrum is even Facebook "friends" with his favorite player, Lebron James, and he likes to let him know how he feels after every game. Landrum says, "Every game that he sucks or does good in, especially when he does good, I blow it up."
NBA teams were recently ranked by social media performance and followers; the LA Lakers came in at number one, the Grizzlies ranked 29.
