Bryant, LA teams dominate first-ever NBA Social Media Awards

Kobe Bryant took home two awards, while his Los Angeles Lakers were named Social MVT (Most Valuable Team) in the inaugural NBA Social Media Awards, which were held Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time). The ceremony was set up to "celebrate the biggest moments and most trend setting plays from the 2011-2012 season....that brought NBA fans across the globe closer together." Bryant took home the Trendsetter Award for being the most mentioned player this NBA season on Twitter, and the Thumbs Up Award for having 12 million-plus likes on Facebook, the most by any NBA player. Even former Laker Shaquille O'Neal, who also happened to be one of the show's co-hosts, along with another former Laker Rick Fox, was honored with the Triple Threat Award, for best former player, turned analyst to follow via social media. The Lakers' in-state rivals didn't do so bad either, as the Los Angeles Clippers took home the Fan Nation Award, for obtaining a 114.33 percent increase in fans and followers increase over multiple social media platforms, while their marquee player Blake Griffin nabbed the Got Game Award for his monstrous dunk over the Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins. Linsanity also go recognized, with Taiwanese-American Jeremy Lin claiming the Epic Award for the Linsanity phenomenon, while his teammate Landry Fields' picture of the couch Lin slept on while he was still an unrecognized player got him the Snap Shot Award. In other categories, Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant's game-winning make against the Dallas Mavericks in the regular season garnered the three-time scoring champ the FTW (For the Win) Award, Phoenix Sun Jared Dudley won the BIG (Best in Game) Award for best utilization of social media, and then-Washington Wizard Javale McGee got the LOL Award for streaking down the other side of the court to get back on defense, unaware that his team had retained possession. The final award of the night was the Social Slam Award, and it went to Brooklyn Net Gerald Green for his in-game windmill versus the Houston Rockets. The NBA is considered as a "longtime pacemaker in social media use by professional sports leagues," wrote Mashable.com earlier in June. The league boasts of more than 277 million combined Facebook likes and Twitter followers, and 853 million video views on YouTube. - AMD, GMA News