OKC Thunder: Chris Paul becomes social media fodder as ‘snitch hotline’ tipster

OKC Thunder captain Chris Paul became the social media fodder as the source of the ‘snitch hotline’ tipster.

Being the president of the NBPA has put Chris Paul in the news frequently. But, on Tuesday the OKC Thunder captain was fodder for humor on social media as the source of the ‘snitch hotline’ tips.

If you’ve ever caught Inside the NBA one comment you’re sure to hear is Shaquille O’Neal saying ‘snitches get stitches’. Of course, the big guy means there is an unspoken rule to never tell on your teammates.

There are two main areas Shaq is referring to. One would be the personal life of a player. The example here was when D’Angelo Russell recorded Nick Young and himself having a private conversation and sent it out on social media. Not surprisingly, Russell lost the trust of his teammates and eventually was traded.

The other arguably more definitive rule is never discussing team business. This would be along the lines of teams having internal struggles. An example would be Al Horford stating there were chemistry issues within the 76ers organization. Since the 76ers had issues winning on the road and ongoing struggles to effectively utilize Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid simultaneously it was thought that was what the big man was hinting at.

In hindsight, Horford’s comments might have had more to do with his personal issues but nonetheless that’s the sort of thing meant to be kept internal.

The OKC Thunder aren’t a team who have experienced these issues. In fact, you would have to go all the way back to the time when Reggie Jackson played for the Thunder to find anything even close to internal issues. Jackson felt he deserved Russell Westbrook‘s spot in the starting rotation and spoke publicly. And again, it was shortly after Jackson was gone on his way to Detroit.

Even the Kevin Durant – Westbrook era in OKC never witnessed either of the stars doing anything but defending one another. After KD left the franchise some comments were made but again, never about teammates. Well, that’s not entirely true since KD and Kendrick Perkins have had recent exchanges. But, with Perk no longer playing and KD now on his second team since playing for the Thunder it doesn’t exactly defy the unwritten rule.

Chris Paul fodder for social media humorists as hotline snitch

So it was a point of contention that the ‘snitch line’ being set up in Orlando would ever be utilized. Then again, there were ample jokes made by analysts and scribes this could be something sneaky teams could use to make false reports in order to gain an advantage in the playoffs.

The other side of the equation is players like Damian Lillard and Joel Embiid who both stated they were worried about players conducting themselves accordingly in the bubble. Both stars weren’t concerned about themselves but stated they weren’t sure they could trust their peers to remain in the bubble and the fears associated with that prospect.

We’ve all wondered how the Disney campus would work and whether the NBA could prevent the bubble from being burst. Those fears have been less concerning as the days have passed. Personally, hearing Malika Andrews describe the specifics of movement in the bubble on the recent Lowe Post podcast alleviated many concerns.

Andrews describes the strict process involved to enter the site and how bracelets are required to move about on the site. This fact coupled with the notes of how Disney staff interact and are suited up with PPE sure made it seem less likely for the virus to get in or be spread.

That said, conflicting reports this week served up one of the more interesting mysteries of life in the bubble. The first tweet came from NBA reporter Chris Haynes who stated the hotline was, in essence, the cold-line given no calls had been placed in six days.

A completely contrary report hit social media one day and three hours later when Shams Charania sent out a tweet stating the NBA’s anonymous hotline had received multiple tips. It has to be noted a good majority of the NBA players are active on social media and could have seen Haynes tweet and decided to correct the inactivity by calling in.

What Charania didn’t offer is who those tips were coming from. And as social media is wont to do it served up plenty of fodder for jokes on who was calling in and OKC Thunder captain Chris Paul became a big-time target.

Paul is a natural target given his position as president of the NBPA. Couple that with what happened in the December 6th game versus the Wolves when Paul called out Jordan Bell for his untucked jersey which resulted in a technical free throw since it was Minnesota’s second delay of game.

The implication by the jokesters on Twitter was Paul was the one who told on Richaun Holmes of the Kings who picked up food delivery and resulted in his eight additional quarantine days for leaving the bubble.

The reality of the situation is it’s extremely unlikely it was CP3 who told on Holmes. Firstly, the OKC Thunder is staying in the Grand Floridian while the Kings are housed in The Yacht Club and the hotels are not close to each other.

Also, it’s highly likely based on what Andrews stated in the Lowe Post that the security on site were the ones who passed along Holmes infraction since he would have had to walk by them to leave the premises.

What we don’t know is the type of infractions that are being reported. For example, are the calls based on protocol, such as players who aren’t wearing their masks properly or keeping a proper distance between each other?

There is also the possibility the calls are coming from coaches or team staff seeing infractions. And, let’s not rule out players trying to pull a joke on a teammate or peer by calling in made-up infractions just to see what the resulting action is.

More from Thunderous Intentions

• Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

As per Charania, some players who were called out have received warnings. That means the tips are being taken seriously or being confirmed via a secondary source.  If we take umbrage with the exact wording of ‘some’ players received warnings the implication is not everyone cited got a warning.

Moving forward, it will be intriguing to see what impact the tipline has. For example, will there be fines or suspensions if a player is cited frequently? More importantly, inquiring minds want to know how the league intends to police this. Clearly, there must be some sort of protocol in place otherwise the playoffs could get very interesting.

…

Anonymous player: “Hello, I’d like to report LeBron James for breaking protocol safety rules. I saw him on multiple occasions not wearing his mask and he is always walking right up to players and not keeping space’

Hey, just saying! 😉