Introducing the D-League Twitter Directory

This is the D-League Twitter Directory.

Everyone and their brother (or father…or son) is on Twitter these days. Everyone including professional athletes. But while the likes of Ron Artest and Chris Bosh, there is a contingent of the Twitter universe that flies under the radar for the most part. I’m talking about the D-League Twitter accounts. There aren’t a ton of them, but there are plenty worth following–and that’s just the players.

As a D-League blogger, I have experienced firsthand the benefits of being connected on Twitter. My Blog Talk BayHawk Twitter account (follow me!) has a small following compared to many, but it is–for the most part–a niche group of followers that have some actual interest in what I write on my blog and on Twitter.

And certainly my blog is not alone. This blog, D-League Digest, has an account as does Ridiculous Upside. There are also Twitter accounts for each D-League team, several past and present D-League players, and other individuals with ties to the league. The problem is that there has never been any organization to all of these D-League-related accounts…until now.

In lieu of researching/writing a basketball-related post this week, I spent several hours compiling as many D-League Twitter accounts as I could find, a project that I am simply titling the D-League Twitter Directory.

Using little more than the D-League website’s players page and Twitter’s maddeningly unrefined search feature, I have put together a spreadsheet using Google Docs that lists more than 35 player accounts, all 17 team accounts, and many more D-League relevant Twitter users all in one convenient location complete with working links.

There are only two concerns I have.

The first concern is that I have no way of knowing with 100 percent accuracy if all of the player accounts are legitimate. It’s unlikely that there are a lot of people out there posing as D-League players because they don’t tend to have the celebrity status that brings in huge follower numbers that might make it worth faking an account.

The second concern is how am I going to keep this document up-to-date. For starters, I’ve decided to include both past and present D-League players, so there is no need to remove names from the list if players earn NBA call-ups, head overseas, or retire. Considering that the list is still relatively small, I don’t think it’ll be an issue keeping past D-Leaguers on the list. Plus, it’s fun to track the progress of D-League alums who are making the most of their development like Aaron Brooks.

But the real answer to this concern is I need your help. I chose Google Docs for a reason: anyone can go in and edit the document. If you know for sure that an account I have listed is illegitimate, please remove it from the list. If you know a player account that I did not include, please update the list with that additional information. Furthermore, if there is a blog or website or individual that tweets about the D-League enough that you think the account deserves recognition, add it to the tab for blogs and people of interest. I don’t want this list to blow up for the sake of growth, but I do want it to be all-inclusive of the D-League community.

I know that some of the players in the directory are Twitter-crazy and others haven’t tweeted in months. Maybe we’ll add an “active in the last X months” category in time. For now, if it’s a legitimate account, let’s keep it on the list. But please, by all means, browse the directory, start following the accounts that interest you on Twitter, and edit the directory as need be. I’m making a leap of faith here that the D-League community, which for the most part is a pretty connected bunch in the social media world, can run this thing together without any major issues.

Thanks in advance to all who participate and help the cause.