Knicks Star Checks the Haters in Audacious Instagram

By Sam Laird2013-05-06 18:26:15 UTC

New York Knicks super sub J.R. Smith had a really bad game in his team's playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. How bad? Try 4-for-15 from the field bad.

The subpar performance in a critical game had some wondering what Smith had been up to the night before. Well, a Saturday night tweet from New York's Jay-Z-owned 40/40 club seemed to indicate that he hadn't exactly been at home quietly preparing for the Knicks' second-round series:

Cam Newton, JR Smith, CC Sabathia, CJ Watson, Andre Blatche and Joe Johnson in the building!The lineup is serious tonight NY!

— The 40/40 Club (@The4040) May 5, 2013

Predictably, Smith's poor outing coupled with his rumored pre-game partying drew plenty of criticism from fans and media alike. Sunday night, however, Smith took to Twitter to let the haters know:

First an for most I wasn't clubbing before the game so y'all can kill that. Don't try an find reasons when I miss shots! #HopOff

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) May 5, 2013

That, however, was just the beginning. Smith followed the tweet up by posting a Twitter link to this Instagram of a quote-unquote Official NBA Bandwagon Transferral Form:

While LeBron James was recently named the NBA's Most Valuable Player, it says here Smith is the league's Most Valuable Tweeter. His defiant Sunday night posts were the latest in a long line of truly outstanding social media shares.

There was the time he roasted Knicks coach Mike Woodson for a polka-dotted fashion fail. There was the time he sent a Kanye-laced zinger to Kardashian ex Kris Humphries. Then, of course, there was also the time he accidentally gave us all an intimate window into how NBA stars proposition their Twitter followers with the immortal pickup line, "You trying to get the pipe?"

Image courtesy Flickr, Bryan Thatcher

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Knicks Star's Wife Tweets to Rival: 'You on the Bench for a Reason'

By Sam Laird2013-05-03 17:28:37 UTC

Vines, subtweets and over-the-line insults. This Knicks-Celtics NBA playoffs series was made for the Internet.

Players talking trash on the court, or even Twitter, is obviously not unheard of. But players wives talking smack to opponents via Twitter? That's next level.

Here's our dramatis personae for this entertaining bit of beef between the Knicks and Celtics, who meet again for the sixth game of their series on Friday night:

Carmelo Anthony: Knicks star. Big ego.

La La Vazquez: Anthony's wife. MTV personality and reality star.

Jordan Crawford: Celtics benchwarmer. His ego outpaces his talent.

Kevin Garnett: Aging Celtics star. Fierce competitor and major trash talker.

At the end of Friday night's Game 5, Crawford and Anthony got into a little dustup and had to be separated by teammates. Crawford, by all appearances, said something rhyming with "that mothertrucker pucked your wife," and Anthony tried to go after him. Here's a Vine of the situation, taken by Sean Dutton:

Crawford was, of course, referring to Vazquez, who then on Thursday morning responded with a stinging subtweet that belittled his lack of playing time (The Instagram reads, "Strong women only intimidate weak men."):

Try again. You on the bench for a reason. instagram.com/p/Y0QM3-xjT5/

— LA LA(@lala) May 2, 2013

And because this is the NBA, where amazing happens, the little tiff gets even better once you're filled in on the backstory. The "He" Crawford was (apparently) referring to was Garnett. Anthony and Garnett nearly fought during a January Knicks-Celtics matchup, then Anthony tried to confront Garnett in front of the Celtics bus post-game, after Garnett reportedly talked some out-of-bounds trash during the game. Vazquez, Garnett apparently told Anthony, "tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios."

Yes, Honey Nut Cheerios.

So ... yeah. Friday night's Game 6 should be highly entertaining.

Photo by Donald Bowers/Getty Images for Samsung Galaxy S III

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Knicks Launch Instagram Microsite for NBA Playoffs

Sam Laird2013-04-20 21:03:35 UTC

The New York Knicks have launched an Instagram-specific microsite to collect fan photos from Madison Square Garden and around the world during the team's 2013 playoff run.

Found at Knickstagram.com, the site will aggregate and post all Instagram fan photos that include the #Knicks and #KnicksTape hashtags, which are popular among fans of the team. The photos will also be displayed on a digital map letting fans see where others are posting from in New York City's five boroughs and beyond.

Additionally, Madison Square Garden's in-house videoboards will show #KicksTape-tagged photos during breaks in the action at home games.

The Knicks started the playoffs with a home game against the Boston Celtics at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon.

The Knickstagram microsite is a cool innovation, and purports to be the first of its kind in the sports world. But it's also just the latest example of Instagram's rising popularity among sports teams, players, brands and fans. During last year's NHL playoffs, for example, the New York Rangers and Delta invited a small group of popular Instagram users to document a game. Puma, meanwhile, took a similar group to Abu Dhabi last year to document a leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Does this sound like a cool idea to you? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy Flickr, Keith Allison

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