The NBA wanted to emphasize its social media guidelines this week to curtail trash talking among teams on Twitter. A memo circulated from the league office stated:
The Hawks and Kings became best friends thanks to the NBA’s new Twitter rules
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
“Teams are prohibited from mocking and/or ridiculing opponents (including teams, players, team personnel (including owners) and opponents’ home cities) and game officials on social media in any form, including through statements, pictures or videos.”
The memo came as a result of banter between Chandler Parsons and C.J. McCollum that bled into the official Blazers team account, which began siding with McCollum and mocking Parsons.
On Friday night, the Hawks and Kings played, and both teams decided that instead of pushing back against the NBA memo — they’d have some fun inside the rules. The sarcastic back-and-forth became one of the highlights of the night:
Dwight Howard got the ball in the lane and slammed it home. After the Hawks posted a GIF, the Kings were quick to compliment:
Ensuring the compliments weren’t one-sided, the Hawks kept up the niceties:
So did the Kings ...
Both arenas are really nice, but let’s talk about jerseys. The Kings were wearing their blue throwbacks on Friday night:
They even complimented each other on how well each team was playing!
Despite Atlanta having the lead, the Hawks didn’t want the Kings to feel bad:
Paul Millsap was having a great game, so of course he needed some compliments:
But the Hawks wouldn’t let that one go without giving DeMarcus Cousins props too ...
The Hawks scored over 50 in the first half, which meant discounted pizza from Papa Johns:
Ben McLemore drained a three in the third quarter ...
... and the Hawks were big fans:
The comeback was on ...
The Kings won, but more importantly: They made a friend:
