The NBA, like any league, generally plays it safe when it comes to social media. While individual team Twitter accounts can get a little racy sometimes, the official NBA account generally stays pretty vanilla, so it tends to stay out of trouble.
But playing it safe cost the NBA dearly Sunday night, after a tweet of comedian Amy Schumer courtside at Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Cavaliers and Celtics went viral for all the wrong reasons.
Amy and a fan on @NBAonTNT. #NBAGIF pic.twitter.com/sE46mCy0bS
— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2017
Yep, there's Schumer, one of the world's most famous comedians, sitting right next to some fan. Who knows who he is? Could be a friend. Could be some random guy who just happened to be sitting next to her. OR IT COULD BE DAVE CHAPPELLE, ARGUABLY THE MOST POPULAR AND RESPECTED COMEDIAN IN THE WORLD.
This is just baffling. Like, what was the thought process here? Is it some sort of inside joke with Chappelle? Is it part of Schumer's bit that nobody is aware of? Or did the people who sent this tweet honestly not know who Chappelle is? Here's how I envision the conversation going down:
NBA Twitter person 1: Hey I'm gonna tweet this GIF of Amy Schumer at the game. Do you know who that guy is next to her?
NBA Twitter person 2: ¯\_(?)_/¯
NBA Twitter person 1: Ok, I'll just say "fan."
NBA Twitter person 2: Works for me. What could possibly go wrong?
And, scene.
Needless to say, Chappelle's fans were not pleased with the slight to the former "Chappelle's Show" star, and let the NBA know about it.
@NBA @NBAonTNTpic.twitter.com/Jr1DYw2UIA
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) May 22, 2017
@NBA @NBAonTNT You're kidding, right? This is why you don't let a 22 year old run social.
— David Binkowski 🐝 (@dbinkowski) May 22, 2017
@NBA @NBAonTNTpic.twitter.com/3MZVhnTFrU
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) May 22, 2017
@NBA @NBAonTNTpic.twitter.com/Aqij7aWjNT
— Andrien Gbinigie (@EscoBlades) May 22, 2017
@NBA @NBAonTNTpic.twitter.com/kSx2b4FIqC
— Layne Harper (@LayneHarper) May 22, 2017
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/44FilZGxrc
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) May 22, 2017
@NBA @NBAonTNTpic.twitter.com/5p7zBeuXU2
— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) May 22, 2017
Something tells me the NBA employee who sent out the original tweet is spending the foreseeable future locked in their office binge-watching all three seasons of "Chappelle's Show."