![NBA Social Media Awards a Pro Sports First [EXCLUSIVE]](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/archives/00GXA3dsadn2CnfY1ijZjG2/hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1647021017.jpg)
Awards will celebrate social media success on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, according to league representatives. Among the honorees will be the player who best uses social media across all platforms, the team or players who created the season's most viral blooper play and the team whose social following saw this biggest boost this year.
The June 20 ceremony will be televised on NBATV. It will feature legendary former player and current broadcaster Shaquille O'Neal and retired champion Rick Fox, as well as basketball writers Lang Whitaker, J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas.
Fans can visit the official social media awards website to see the full list of categories and vote for their winners. Voting will also be available through the NBA's Facebook Page.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has handed out quarterly bonuses and recognized social media engagement among its fighters, but the NBA's June 20 event will be the first time a major American sports league has dedicated a full awards ceremony to social media.
“We are committed to delivering great content to our fans 24/7,” Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, the NBA’s vice president of marketing, told Mashable earlier this year. “More and more we’re using social media as the lens for that, so to speak.”
Last month, the NBA became the first sports league in the world to reach 5 million Twitter followers. Fans used Twitter to vote for this year’s Slam Dunk Contest winner, and in March the league began selling t-shirts featuring star players’ Twitter handles. In April, it marked the beginning of playoff season by official launching Pinterest and Tumblr pages.
More than 350 current and former NBA players are on Twitter. Counting official league, team and player profiles, the league claims more than 277 million combined Facebook likes and Twitter follows.
And the NBA's social media connection goes even deeper -- the omnipresent avian Twitter logo is actually named after a member of the original Dream Team.
Do you think more pro sports leagues should give out social media awards? Share your take in the comments.