| When the Los Angeles Lakers were crowned the | | | | Villanueva (one of the pioneers of Twitter in the |
| NBA champions of the 2008-2009 basketball | | | | NBA when he was caught Tweeting during the |
| season, it only means all the other 29 teams of | | | | halftime of an NBA game) reports that his time |
| the popular basketball league are primed to make | | | | may be done in Milwaukee may be done because |
| roster changes in the offseason. Contracts expire | | | | his contract was not extended. On the other |
| in June 30 and this means free agency is once | | | | hand, Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love |
| again active. This season is different however. | | | | reported that Kevin McHale was no longer their |
| Virtual communities are more involved thanks to | | | | coach. |
| the social media network Twitter. | | | | Updates such as these serve as fuel to |
| Twitter is not as elaborate as commercial and | | | | discussions of people in the virtual communities of |
| free virtual worlds with 3D environments. Actually, | | | | Twitter. These developments unify this people |
| it is a very simple utility application. It connects | | | | under the same topic even if they are not |
| lots of Twitter users together under an | | | | physically present to discuss with each other. |
| up-to-the-minute stream of updates from each | | | | Moreover, NBA teams even involve the online fan |
| other. But it is still a community nevertheless | | | | base in through Twitter. Houston Rockets general |
| because there are trends for primary | | | | manager Daryl Morey wanted to rally the |
| conversations and the likes. | | | | Rockets fans to show their support for potential |
| So how does it work in previous years? | | | | free agent signee center Marcin Gortat of the |
| Managements, owners and managers usually | | | | Orlando Magic. Here is a sample tweet: |
| meet each other on closed doors to arrange | | | | "Meeting in a few w/ Gortat. Send a note to him |
| contract negotiations and even workings of | | | | NOW at rocketsfanslovegortat. He will receive. |
| trades. Usually, no news announcements are | | | | Show him how much we want him in Red (color |
| made until the deals are final. The basketball | | | | of the Rockets uniform)!" |
| community back then consisted of people in the | | | | Another respected mind in the NBA, Dallas |
| same geographical location speculating about | | | | Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, tweeted his |
| possible trades and personnel twists. | | | | presence in New York at the strike of the July 1 |
| Not anymore. | | | | clock in order to court the free agent |
| Twitter and the World Wide Web in general | | | | Hall-of-Famer point guard Jason Kidd to return to |
| enabled communities to be updated as it happens. | | | | his team with a new contract. Cuban tweeted |
| Basketball sports outlets are using Twitter to | | | | that he is already in New York for an important |
| outwork their opponents for the latest | | | | free agent meeting. Even with this transparency, |
| developments. In a trend in recent days, sports | | | | Cuban discussed that there will be no updates yet |
| stories are using the Twitter accounts of NBA | | | | until conversations are finish. |
| superstars for quotes. This provides an alternative | | | | So we see another important usage of Twitter |
| from the quotes in press conferences. For | | | | to involve a virtual community under the same |
| example, when the Lakers won, news outlets | | | | topic. We've seen it with the death of Michael |
| used Shaquille O'Neal's tweet (a Twitter update) in | | | | Jackson and here in our 3D animation studio |
| his account The_Real_ShaQ when he | | | | Mediafreaks, we think this will be a forward trend |
| congratulated the team. | | | | with commercial and free virtual worlds from here |
| Other NBA players are using this service to give | | | | on out. Interactivity is really the trend in the |
| hints about their possible destination and other | | | | World Wide Web nowadays. |
| personnel moves. Milwaukee Bucks' Charlie | | | | |