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A few short days after being drafted by the Phoenix Suns, Kendall Marshall (@kbutter5) has some strong yet playful words for Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619).
Move over @JaredDudley619, there's a new twitter sheriff in town.
— Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) July 2, 2012
Before he was even drafted last month the new Suns rookie guard had nearly 80,000 followers on Twitter, since June 28 that number has ballooned to a following that just barely has sniffed over the 100k mark. Snap. That, my friends is a lot of followers for a young rookie in the NBA. By comparison, today as I check the Jared Dudley machine has nearly 119k followers - but that is a number that has slowly been on the rise after several years of Dudley's social self-marketing campaign.
The point is this - Jared Dudley should be afraid. He seriously better step his game up if indeed he'd like to defend that "Twitter Sheriff" title he's held for so long here in Phoenix.
Is any of this relevant to the current free-agency-palooza or how the 2012-13 Suns will look on the court? NO SIR. Phoenix now holds pride in featuring players across the desert's athletic teams who have high character and who interact and reach out to their fans and the community. Kendall Marshall is a welcome addition.
We all know Jared is famous for his 'JMZ' and 'JSPN' videos - well Marshall posted his first video through social media yesterday. The video shows Kendall standing in front of the US Airways center after practice and exclaiming the heat of the Phoenix basin. "It's cooled down a bit today, it's only 110".
I pose this question - do you think he'll surpass Dudley as the Phoenix Suns most valuable tweeter? My take is this, Dudley holds the new NBA BIG social media award. Until Marshall can flash some hardware he's still the rook and will be far from the throne until he proves himself. Maybe he can serve as an intern to Jared Dudley's enterprise... a correspondent for JMZ or JSPN? What do you think?
As a fan I welcome any and all fan interaction with players. Glad to have guys like Dudley and Marshall, and I'll throw in Channing Frye in there as well as players who are really down-to-earth and connect well with their fans. Should be a fun season to experience on and off the court next year.