OKC Thunder: Bubble Life social media account mystery solved

The mystery of the Twitter account keeping fans in the loop on OKC Thunder players and peers in the bubble is uncovered.

For close to two weeks the Twitter account @NBABubbleLife has been a daily must view. The twitter account and associated Instagram account has served up a peek into the Disney bubble of both the NBA and WNBA players. The OKC Thunder cornhole match between Chris Paul and Darius Bazley was featured on this site as was the fishing expedition of the aforementioned CP3, Bazley, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Devon Hall.

Although there were posts on most of the above players’ social media accounts and team account it also landed on @NBABubbleLife. Initially, many assumed (raises hand) it was agent and LeBron James BFF – Rich Paul because the image in the Twitter profile sure looked like Paul.

But, the mystery has been uncovered — and in hindsight, it makes sense that not one person but four are running the account. New York Times writer Sopan Deb is credited as the sleuth who got to the bottom of the mystery.

Social Media NBA Bubble Life account mystery solved

Deb notes Nick Paula, Travonne Edwards, Wells Phillips, and Drew Ruiz are the quartet behind the account.

"Nick DePaula, who writes about the shoe industry for ESPN; Wells Phillips, who works in marketing for the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board; Travonne Edwards, a podcast host for The Athletic and an elementary schoolteacher in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Drew Ruiz, a staffer for the Drew League, the Los Angeles-based basketball association, who has also written for Slam Magazine."

https://twitter.com/NBABubbleLife/status/1285385382582841346

In hindsight, it makes sense this is an aggregation of posts coming directly from the players. The reason that was uncertain is at times it seemed they were the ones breaking the news.

Still, this is no simple task to aggregate and curate so many posts on social media. Take it from someone who often wakes up to several 100 notifications a day. And that’s with a limited number of accounts being followed.

https://twitter.com/Fergskii/status/1282757292681768967

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For this quartet to run the account and stay on top of the action it would require them to be checking all 346 NBA players social media accounts in the bubble and do the same for the WNBA players.

And that’s what makes this account special, instead of having to check every player and team’s account you get it all aggregated in one place. Whether it’s JJ Redick shotgunning a beer, Maxi Kleber’s DJ skills, or OKC Thunder wingman Terrance Ferguson dancing with his daughter on facetime or playing peek-a-boo, it’s all here in one spot for fans to see.

Clearly, what makes the NBA restart so unique is all the participating players are on one site and will be for the duration. Getting a peek into the bubble has been fun and takes our minds off our own life which also isn’t typical at the moment.

Deb details how the site came to be as a passion project for the quartet and that it’s success has the group now considering continuing it into the future. They say if that happens they’ll consider any remuneration made via the effort be used to fund causes the players care about tied to social justice.

Regardless of what happens – from one hoop head to four others, I’m sending a hat tip and round of applause for your efforts.