As Florida takes its unlikely place as the epicenter of American sports for the next four days, we decided to do something a little different for this week's edition of Twitter Power Rankings. Instead of our typical list counting down the week's best from all over the sports world, we'll have two lists of our favorite NBA All-Star tweeters and Daytona 500 tweeters.
Next week, when Florida likely loses Dwight Howard in an inevitably unbalanced trade and returns to being best known for its elderly population and inability to conduct an election, we'll resume our normal ranking system.
Like it? Hate it? Have a new format idea or a suggestion for next week's rankings? Send it to D'Arcy Maine on Twitter. We'll give you a shoutout if we use it.
So without further ado, here's this week's Power Rankings of our favorite NBA All Stars. Feel free to RT.
(Click here for the Daytona 500 edition.)
5. Derrick Williams
Followers: 80,229
Sample tweet: 'I guess I have to practice my dunks..'
Sure, we wouldn't even actually consider him 'the real D-Will' (you're welcome Deron Williams) and many wouldn't even consider this year's Dunk Contest very All-Star worthy, but Derrick definitely warrants a spot on this list. Derrick is the rare tweeter that somehow mixes sarcasm and motivational thoughts in his daily repertoire and manages to pull off both convincingly. We just hope he finds a way to utilize that creativity in Saturday's Dunk Contest without including a Kia and a gospel choir.
4. Steve Nash
Followers: 811,318
Sample tweet: ''It's crazy! I'm watching Linsanity hoping every shot goes in. Hope I never grow up.'
It's humanly impossible not to like Steve Nash. Unless, that is, you're his ex-wife. But the remaining 7 billion of you should definitely be following him.
3. Luol Deng
Followers: 106,017
Sample tweet: 'Private jet with Wi-Fi to Orlando. Wow. The Refugee kid has come a long way. But never forgotten where he came from. #Blessed'
…But still far enough away to refer to himself in the third person. We kid, we kid. Appearing in his first-ever All-Star Game, the Bulls forward is also making his first-ever Twitter Power rankings appearance. We have a feeling one of those honors means a little more than the other. Luol has impressed us this season not just with his improved play but also his dedication to his fans on Twitter.
2. Kevin Durant
Followers: 1,454,834
Sample tweet: 'Just a had a bad dream, wish I could go sleep in my mommy bed but I forgot that im 23'
Okay. Well, that's just creepy. But despite the tweet above, Kevin seems to have more fun on Twitter than just about anyone else. Whether he's looking for a pickup game or a new friend to Skype with, the Thunder superstar might be the most accessible athlete in recent history.
1. LeBron James
Followers: 3,636,775
Sample tweet: 'S/O to President Clinton for rocking and rolling with Heat Nation today! #PresidentialSwag'
FYI: If your name is LeBron James, you automatically make this list. If your name is LeBron James and you're tweeting about 'rolling' with former presidents, you earn top honors on this list. And while the man who calls himself 'King' does his fair share of humble bragging on the site, we just really follow along for the receding hairline jokes. They just don't go away. Unlike LeBron's hair.
Fake account you need to follow this weekend: @NotBillWalton. Bizarre, whimsical takes on the NBA. Although probably less bizarre and whimsical than the actual Bill Walton. But we'll take what we can get.