NBA To Issue Twitter Guidelines For Its Players and Personnel (see end for my input)

NBA commissioner David Stern announced last week that the basketball league will be issuing guidelines for Twitter use for its players.

Stern told Yahoo! Sports that the NBA will issue Twitter restrictions for players using the microblogging network.

"You want to make sure that pop culture doesn't intrude on what brought us here, which is the game, and that we show the right respect for the game," Stern said. "We just need to make sure when it's OK to tweet and when it's not OK to tweet, so it, at least, focuses around the game.

"It would look unusual for a guy sitting on the bench to pick up his cell phone, and I think we can agree that he probably shouldn't be writing e-mails. It's not about Twitter; it's about the line of communication. That's what we're focusing on," he continued.

Several players are on Twitter these days, including Shaq, the Cavs' Mo Williams, Oklahoma's Kevin Durant. Orlando's Dwight Howard, the Lakers' Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher, Paul Pierce, the Knicks' Nate Robinson, and Detroit's Charlie Villanueva, among others.

"We're happy to let it play out to see if it merits all the attention that it's getting. We don't want to overreact," Stern explained.

The news comes shortly after the NFL released its own guidelines about social networks like Twitter and Facebook, in which players, coaches and operations personnel are restricted from using the sites from 90 minutes before kickoff to the end of traditional media interviews after games.

Stay tuned on the NBA's restrictions. (Article via ballerstatus.com)

Imagine witnessing the big Shaq Diesel throw down one of his monstrous, rim shaking, two-handed dunks and then trot over to the sideline, pick up his iphone, and tweet all about it to twitternation. Ha ha. I donno about you, but I would absolutely LOVE to see that! Or maybe after T.O. catches his first TD pass as a Bill, QB Trent Edwards busts out his Blackberry, takes a pic of Terrell, and throws it up on twitpic right there before our eyes! Im down... As a matter of fact, I think I'll give David Stern and Roger Goodell a shout ASAP!!!