As any NBA fan will be quick to remind you, what separates “THIS LEAGUE” from the rest of the other major American sports leagues is that its news cycle seems to be endless.
From on-the-court highlights and off-the-court beef, to All-Stars subtweeting their rivals and LeBron’s latest depth of hairline. From Danny Ainge making a bombshell trade every 6 months to players like OJ Mayo getting banned for life — the storylines coming out of the NBA are never-ending, making the league a truly year-long source of entertainment.
And when it comes NBA moments throughout the year that grasps the attention of the sports world, there are arguably none — including the actual NBA Finals themselves — as wild on social media than the start of the league’s free agency period.
More so than any other major American sport, the NBA is a players league, meaning the quality of a team’s top-end talent does more for their chances of success than any other sport. After all, there were only 494 players in the league on the 2018-19 opening-day roster list.
And that’s what makes the NBA’s free agency period so unique: you aren’t just seeing players make decisions for themselves and their career, you are seeing the balance of power amongst the league’s 30 teams shift in real time.
So when the 2019 Free Agency period kicked off — widely considered to be the most stacked with talent in the league’s storied history — at 6 p.m. EST on June 30, Twitter essentially went into nuclear meltdown mode.
Whether it was Kyrie and KD heading to Brooklyn, the Knicks swinging and missing, or Khris Middleton becoming one of the highest paid players ever, NBA Twitter wasted absolutely no time firing off all the jokes.
reacting to the Knicks missing out on Durant and Kyrie pic.twitter.com/9k3rOK5t2b
— BroBible (@BroBible) July 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/DylansRawTake/status/1145439714784284674
THE NEWS JUST KEEPS ROLLING IN pic.twitter.com/ESrMRUkmvl
— The Ringer (@ringer) June 30, 2019
Knicks traded Porzingis away for cap space to sign KD & Kyrie but gotta settle for Robin Lopez 😭 pic.twitter.com/VRxTWPF2iK
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) June 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/KFCradio/status/1145509395184410624
What the Knicks ordered vs what came in the mail pic.twitter.com/0iM3QRvDiH
— SB Nation (@SBNation) July 1, 2019
Knicks fans 10:12am: WE GETTING KYRIE KD KAWHI AND KLAY LFG!!!!
Knicks fans 9:55pm: Julius Randle has a great handle for a 4. pic.twitter.com/1ToAV9Ja76
— BIGPLAY Dave (@BIGPLAY_Dave) July 1, 2019
When the Knicks traded Porzingis I immediately thought “if this leads to Julius Randle and Taj Gibson you make this move.”
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) July 1, 2019
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💣💣Via @nygfans10
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 30, 2019
Woj pic.twitter.com/iWKhtxZK5v
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) June 30, 2019
. @wojespn tonight when the dust settles pic.twitter.com/H3YUcAt1bK
— BroBible (@BroBible) June 30, 2019
Woj unloading tweets from his drafts pic.twitter.com/7UD8bWLbqH
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 30, 2019
WOJ is not playing any games right now! pic.twitter.com/oMvOhTj2Uf
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) June 30, 2019
Woj working his sources pic.twitter.com/Hm46Ap16W1
— Mike Camerlengo (@MCamerlengo) June 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/exeplane/status/1145457978876846080
Knicks fans after the KD-Kyrie announcement pic.twitter.com/4F4yz0cVTH
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/SportsNation/status/1145497288183308288
. @wojespn preparing for tonight pic.twitter.com/6pf32ucq8R
— BroBible (@BroBible) June 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/KrispyFlakes2k/status/1145459691016904704
“Don’t care what anyone says, KD going to the Nets takes GUTS. Dude has always been braver than he’s given credit for!” pic.twitter.com/QfqvzrcehF
— BroBible (@BroBible) June 30, 2019