Championship Winning MVP Sees Unusual Drop in Social Engagement
Last week, the National Basketball Association hosted its final championship game, with the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors. It was an important week for the NBA; Kevin Durant made history, winning his first ever career championship ring as a Golden State Warrior.
The entire NBA community were both stunned and excited when Kevin Durant announced his move to the Golden State Warriors. However, not all fans were as excited, especially his core fan base who had followed him since his rookie beginnings at Oklahoma City in 2008.
Durant-Warriors is a huge blow to Oklahoma City -- and to the NBA's failed efforts to stop proliferation of big market super teams.
— Ken Berger (@KBergNBA) July 4, 2016
*We based our study on KD’s Facebook and Twitter, as KD’s Twitter is either inactive or new, giving inaccurate statistics.*
Compared to his last NBA season as an Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant’s social media engagement across facebook and twitter this year saw a 27% decrease, despite a successful season. This drop was directly caused by his declining fan interaction on facebook even though his posts for 2017 went up by 12% and video views by a stunning 1427%.
Kevin Durant’s facebook saw a shocking 81% decrease in content shares and 58% decrease in FB interaction. In addition to the decrease in his overall social media engagement, there was a sustained line of criticism from his long time fans still reeling from his unorthodox move to the Golden State Warriors and winning them a Championship.
@KDTrey5 aye, why do u like the easy way out? Why not work hard like Kobe and other legends?
— Kevin Hendizadeh (@KevinHendizadeh) June 19, 2017
Kevin Durant’s Twitter account on the other hand, saw an 88% increase in interaction and 42% increase in retweets, making his Twitter account the only growing social platform. It is safe to say that in this business, no matter what the move is, there will always be criticism and approval from the fans.
I'm not really surprised honestly! KD made a great decision! Joining the Warriors makes a lot of sense. The guy wants to win championships!!
— Kelenna Azubuike (@KAzubuike7) July 4, 2016
It is too soon to assume that Kevin Durant has lost a huge portion of his loyal fanbase. We will be keeping a close eye on this and keeping you all updated on KD’s social media engagement as the year progresses.
To learn more about Shareablee PowerRankings please click here.