NBACentel
 NBACentel's X avatar | |
| Formation | July 2022 |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Toronto, Canada |
| Affiliations | none |
| Website | X (formerly Twitter) account |
NBACentel (sometimes spelled as NBA Centel), and often referred to simply as Centel, is the handle of a satirical sports journalism page on X (formerly Twitter). A parody of National Basketball Association (NBA) news aggregator page NBACentral, the Centel page often posts humorous or outright outlandish faux headlines regarding NBA teams, players, coaches, and personalities. Because of the account's similar appearance to NBACentral, many readers are often fooled by the account's satirical headlines, mistaking them for genuine sports reporting at first glance. Many professional NBA players and sports media figures have also been tricked by the account, which has since been dubbed "getting Centel'd".
Despite explicitly labeling itself as a parody account, NBACentel has been the subject of critique online due to its contribution towards a fast-growing monetized disinformation scene on social media. The account garnered further attention after it was abruptly shadow-banned from X on 26 February 2025, before being reinstated the following day. As of February 2025, Centel has over 450,000 followers on the platform.
History
[edit]NBACentel is an X account directly parodying "NBACentral", a basketball news aggregator on the platform.[1] The account was opened in July 2022 under a different handle, and initially posted non-parody NBA content before pivoting to its NBACentel identity in 2023.[2] The owner of the account, who remains anonymous, credits his inspiration primarily to "Ballsack Sports", another "troll" account that has had fake quotes picked up and spread by legitimate news outlets.[2]
Media writers have suggested that X's incentive structure that allows for monetization on posts by X Premium subscribers has led to the increase in accounts like Centel.[2][3]
In July 2023, shortly after Centel began posting satirical content, the page successfully fooled Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green into responding to a fake quote attributed to retired player Kevin Garnett. This prompted a response from Garnett, who pointed out Centel was a fake account, and called for X CEO Elon Musk to "fix it".[2] Other players and media members alike have since been fooled by or otherwise drawn attention to Centel's tweets, such as Kevin Durant, Stephen A. Smith and Colin Cowherd.[4][5]
Notable faux stories
[edit]One of Centel's more notable posts was a story falsely credited to NBA freelance reporter Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson, supposedly quoting NBA player LeBron James having stated: "It's crazy, I was bumping to "Mo Money Mo Problems" earlier today in the car and I had a weird feeling today was the day the feds will catch Diddy".[2] James indeed did not actually state this, nor did Robinson actually issue this report, though Robinson stated that his contacts in the entertainment industry nevertheless congratulated him on the story.[2]
In October 2024, Durant referenced Centel in multiple tweets; in one, he replied to a profane X post directed towards him by user @JasonAWilkinson, who responded to a Centel post which included a fake quote attributed to Durant. The NBA player then replied to Wilkinson, informing him "you got centel'd".[2] This exchange led to a tweet by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary humorously acknowledging the word centel'd as a verb.[6] Around this time, the account had approximately 154,000 followers.[2] Durant also stated that he browses the comments on the account's posts "just to truly see how many dummies come online thinking that they have high IQ".[7]
On November 11, Centel posted a fabricated quote from Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, humorously writing that Rivers "have [sic] informed the Bucks he'll start taking coaching 'seriously' now," after the team lost eight of its first 10 games to start the 2024–25 season.[sm 1][8] Following the post, the Bucks would go on to win nine of their next 10 games and win the 2024 NBA Cup tournament. Some Bucks fans have since claimed the Centel post may have "fixed" the team's season.[8]
Following the blockbuster three-team deal that sent Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, NBACentel produced a large series of satirical posts, headlines, and fake quotes involving Dončić, the Mavericks, and General Manager Nico Harrison, who orchestrated the trade.[9][sm 2] On 21 February 2025, Centel "broke" a fictitious story reporting that the Mavericks had banned fans wearing Dončić's jersey from entering the team's home arena, American Airlines Center.[sm 3] This came after multiple actual recorded instances of Mavericks fans being escorted out of home games for chanting or holding signs that read "Fire Nico".[10][11] Centel's faux headline fooled Colin Cowherd, who mentioned the fake story during his show on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).[sm 4][12]
X shadow ban
[edit]On the afternoon of 26 February 2025, posts from the @TheNBACentel profile page on X stopped loading, and posts from the account ceased.[13][14][15] It was initially unclear if the shadow ban on the account indicated a permanent suspension.[5][16] As the account appeared shut down, Centel received tribute posts on X from Stephen A. Smith and the official accounts of various NBA teams, posting hashtags such as #RIPCentel and #FreeCentel, and dedicating wins from that night's games in the account's honor.[13]
Though the Centel account was transparent in its parody,[3] it did not officially tag itself as a parody account on X, which was speculated by many users to be the reason for the account being shut down.[17] The owner of the Ballsack Sports account tweeted that "Centel has told me he just wants to be back and having fun with you guys. We're hoping this a temporary restriction on his account, and not a ban".[17] Centel continued to post on Instagram,[5] and its X account was indeed fully restored the following morning, on February 27.[18] At the time of the temporary ban, the account accumulated around 357,000 followers.[16] Since the account page technically remained online during the ban, Centel had gained an additional 100,000 followers in the 24 hours following the ordeal.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Avila, Alejandro (14 October 2024). "Parody NBA Account Somehow Gets Acknowledged By Dictionary Merriam-Webster". OutKick. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Perez, A.J. (22 October 2024). "Meet the Man Behind NBA Centel, Who Keeps Fooling Fans on Twitter". Front Office Sports. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ a b Lerner, Drew (October 23, 2024). "Satire aggregators like NBA Centel are growing as X incentivizes parody and engagement". Awful Announcing. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ Jungfer, Nick (July 19, 2023). "Draymond Green Falls For Fake Kevin Garnett Quote, Calls Him Out". Basketball Forever. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ a b c Shipley, Reice (26 February 2025). "Satirical social media aggregation account 'NBA Centel' removes all posts on X". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ Lago, Joe (14 October 2024). "Kevin Durant helps NBA parody account make Merriam-Webster Dictionary". The Big Lead. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ Alston, Trey (14 October 2024). "Kevin Durant Rips 'Dummies' Who Follow NBA Parody Account, Think 'They Have High IQ' About Basketball". Complex. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ a b Wells, Jed (24 November 2024). "Did viral fake X post fix Milwaukee Bucks season?". The Sporting News. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ Bhaunt, Rohan (22 February 2025). "Is Dallas Mavericks Banning Fans From Wearing Luka Doncic's Jersey? Fact-Checking the Viral Social Media Claim". EssentiallySports. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ Falcon, Julia (11 February 2025). "Dallas Mavericks fans with "fire Nico" signs escorted out of American Airlines Center". CBS News Texas. CBS News. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ McMahon, Tim (11 February 2025). "Fans break NBA code of conduct, ejected from Mavericks' loss". ESPN. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ Contes, Brandon (24 February 2025). "Colin Cowherd duped by fake Luka Dončić rumor". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ a b Morse, Ben (27 February 2025). "As this popular parody NBA social media account disappears, various franchises and basketball figures mourn the loss". CNN. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ Kadlick, Mike (26 February 2025). "NBA World Pays Tribute to Fallen Troll Account 'TheNBACentel' on Social Media". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ Mader, Daniel. "What happened to NBA Centel? Popular NBA parody account receives 'temporary restrictions' on X". The Sporting News. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ a b Mayer, Phil (26 February 2025). "Popular parody X account NBA Centel possibly shut down". kron4.com. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ a b Valdez, Joshua (26 February 2025). "Fans mourn the end of NBACentel on social media". ClutchPoints. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
- ^ Anderson, Kari (27 February 2025). "NBA Centel parody account returns to X after being mourned by NBA fans and teams". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
Social media
[edit]- ^ @TheNBACentel (11 November 2024). "Doc Rivers have informed the Bucks he'll start taking coaching 'seriously' now, per @ChrisBHayne" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 February 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ @TheNBACentel (4 February 2025). "Luka's comment. 💀😭" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 February 2025 – via Twitter.
- @TheNBACentel (6 February 2025). "Lakers officially unveiled their new superstar trio nickname: BBL (Bron, Bronny, Luka). 🔥" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 February 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ @TheNBACentel (21 February 2025). "BREAKING: The Mavericks organization has announced they will ban fans from wearing Luka Doncic jerseys as a way to move forward from him. (Via @ChrisBHayne)" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 February 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ @TheNBACentel (24 February 2025). "'I saw a story where they won't let Luka jerseys in the building in Dallas.' Colin Cowherd got CENTEL'D. 😭😭😭" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 February 2025 – via Twitter.
