One of the first posts I ever wrote here was about Gilbert Arenas, the true pioneer of the social media space for professional athletes. Shaq gets the credit for being the one who led the way, because of his use of Twitter, but Gilbert was in the space first. And Gilbert was a blogger! Forget Shaq writing 140-character tweets in 2008, Gilbert was writing blog posts that consisted of hundreds if not thousands of words… two years earlier!

Anyway, this post is not about Shaq or Gilbert Arenas or anyone you’ve likely heard of before. This post is about Swedish professional golfer Alex Noren and minor league baseball player Matt Antonelli. Why? They’re both professional athletes and outstanding bloggers. We focus so much on Facebook & Twitter as the tools athletes should be utilizing, but let’s not forget the power of the blog.

Alex Noren (AlexNoren.com)

Alex uses his blog very much like how I would recommend a professional athlete to use his or her blog; frequent updates with lots of pictures and behind-the-scenes looks that tell the story of who Alex Noren is. He posts pictures from the course, as well as from workouts, and the clubhouse lounge, and he’s always sure to add a caption or a bit of commentary. All the posts seem to come directly from Alex.

One big criticism would be that Alex fails to interact with commenters. These are readers who feel passionately enough about him to leave their thoughts on Alex’s posts, and yet he misses the opportunity to capitalize and engage.

Matt Antonelli (MatthewAntonelli.com)

While not the prettiest of blogs design-wise, Matt does an excellent job with content. He posts regularly, using the blog almost as a journal. Matt generally posts about what is on his mind and what he’s been up to. I love the fact that he posts videos. Recently, he posted some footage of his trip to the San Diego Zoo, as well as footage from a recent Massachusetts to Arizona road trip. The content is incredibly personal and authentic, and that’s what makes it so great.

Matt also asks site visitors to “Become a Fan” with a Like Box and to “Follow Matt on Twitter” with an embedded Twitter feed. Great to see the incorporation of social media, and also to see that Matt updates both his Facebook & Twitter accounts quite frequently.

Fun Story: Recently, my boss, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Matt Antonelli had an exchange on Twitter where Gary told Matt that his brother AJ owned Matt on his fantast team. He replied, “tell @ajv I’m sorry I’ve been hurt all year…Don’t lose the faith lol.” Great stuff!

Honorable Mention: Kevin Durant (KevinDurant35.com/blog)

This is easily the best blog I’ve seen from a well-known athlete. Durant posts about once per week, and generally seems to write his own posts. He writes about basketball, of course, but also about what’s on his mind. For example, he recently posted about hip hop artist Drake’s new album as well as his thoughts on pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg. The blog isn’t perfect, but it’s the best I’ve seen from a notable pro athlete.

Advice for Athletes

Take some notes. Buy your domain name. Create a blog (use Tumblr, it’s easy). Post regularly. Be authentic. Post lots of pictures and videos. Include your social presence if you have one (if you don’t have one, get one). Give fans a behind-the-scenes experience they won’t be able to find anywhere else.

You may think you don’t have the time, but believe me, it’s smart to take the five minutes per day to post some content on a consistent basis. Why? Facebook and Twitter are great, but they are only platforms. You can make your blog your permanent home on the web.

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About Sam Taggart

Sam is a Creative Strategist for VaynerMedia, a social media agency based in New York City. Sam previously worked as an Account Executive for the New York Jets as well as the New Jersey Nets and spent time working with former NBA player Jalen Rose as well as NFL safety Kerry Rhodes. He now focuses on creative strategy across VaynerMedia's portfolio. You can follow Sam at http://twitter.com/gosam & visit VaynerMedia at http://www.vaynermedia.com.

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Update: Today, Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely and without pay from the National Basketball Association. Keep in mind that this article was published before the suspension was announced.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about Gilbert Arenas, calling him the true pioneer of social media. Far before Shaq had 2.7 million followers (the population of Jamaica), Arenas was blogging for the NBA. Sure, social media wasn’t quite as “social” back then. Gilbert wasn’t directly interacting with fans, but he was providing us with an inside look into his life on and off the court. Arenas wrote his last post towards the end of 2008, after he’d sustained a couple of injuries. By then, he’d already established himself as the first professional athlete to really succeed with social media.

For more than a year, Arenas stayed away from social media. Shaq exploded onto the scene with his ‘Random Acts of Shaqness’ and ‘Yo Mama’ jokes. He’s been the unquestionable sweetheart of the sports and social media world. Then, in early December, Arenas created a Twitter account, and sent out the message that he wouldn’t tweet again until he got one million followers. I was thrilled to see Gilbert back in the space, and I thought that he’d get his million in no time.

However, two weeks later, he had only gained several thousand followers, and on December 24th, he tweeted twice. Then, on the 31st, he said, “i know i said i wouldnt text til i get a mil..but shit this is takin 4ever…Happy New Years…ps who do i hav 2 sleep with 2 get a mil.” Uhhh, text? It’s official: Gilbert has no idea what he’s doing.

In the last week, Arenas has tweeted over 180 times. He’s admitted he’s clueless as far as Twitter is concerned, but he continues to tweet. So what triggered this Twitter tornado? Well, on Christmas eve, the same day that Gilbert sent his second tweet ever, reports came out that Arenas’ alleged possession of a firearm may have resulted in a violation of league rules. A few days later, it was reported that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton were involved in a standoff in the Wizards locker room. Apparently, after a gambling dispute on the team plane, Arenas brought in three guns and laid them in front of Crittenton’s locker. Arenas has since apologized, saying it was a practical joke gone bad, but he may be in some serious trouble. Washington D.C. has very strict gun laws, and authorities are contemplating taking Arenas before a grand jury.

At this point, it’s unclear if, how, and when Arenas will be punished. However, one thing is for sure: Arenas has been in a bit of a free fall since his blogging days. He’s had injury problems, he’s been out of the spotlight, and it has been difficult for him to get back into it (at least in a positive light). He clearly needs help with his brand (call me!) and regaining his social media prowess (right now it looks like he’s using Twitter to vent), and probably will need some legal assistance in the coming weeks. It will be interesting to see how things play out with Gilbert. Despite his recent troubles, I am rooting for him.

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Images by Keith Allison

About Sam Taggart

Sam is a Creative Strategist for VaynerMedia, a social media agency based in New York City. Sam previously worked as an Account Executive for the New York Jets as well as the New Jersey Nets and spent time working with former NBA player Jalen Rose as well as NFL safety Kerry Rhodes. He now focuses on creative strategy across VaynerMedia's portfolio. You can follow Sam at http://twitter.com/gosam & visit VaynerMedia at http://www.vaynermedia.com.

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When you think of social media and basketball, you think Shaquille O’Neal. He has over 2 million followers on Twitter and about 900,000 fans on Facebook. He is hilarious, innovative, active, and engaging. He was one of the first athletes to get involved with social media and his personality has helped make him one of social media’s biggest stars.

Shaq gets a lot of love for being the pioneer athlete in this space, but people fail to acknowledge the one who came before him and all other athletes: Gilbert Arenas.

In October 2006, Gilbert Arenas began blogging on NBA.com. He used the blog, “Agent Zero: The Blog File,” to complement his entertaining personality by making scoring predictions, writing about his experiences on and off the court, and giving the fans a true look into the life of an NBA star.  He interacted with fans, even making bets with them, and got into trouble from time to time for what he said. Most importantly, he was not afraid to push the envelope and he was transparent and honest. He was nothing more than Gilbert Arenas, and that is what made his blog so fun to read and follow.

When Arenas got hurt at the end of the 2006-07 season, his blog began to cool down. He wrote his last post on November 15th of 2008. While he exited the social media spotlight following the injury, Arenas had become the first athlete to succeed with social media. He led the way for Shaq and has barely received any credit.

How the Blog Impacted Arenas’ Career

Gilbert Arenas entered the league in 2001 and averaged 11 points and 25 minutes per game. His numbers rose every year until the 2005-06 season, when he averaged just under 30 points and 42 minutes per game. On December 17th, 2006, Agent Zero dropped 60 points on the Los Angeles Lakers, something only Wilt Chamberlain had done before. He was a rising star for a mediocre team.

Arenas had superstar abilities and a superstar personality, but it was the blog that elevated him to the next level. When Arenas wrote, people read. He wasn’t writing just for Washington Wizards fans. Arenas wanted the blog to help make him the NBA’s biggest name, and he was well on his way to that goal.  The blog made Arenas more relevant in the greater sports space, attracting attention outside of his local market including frequent posts on popular sports blogs like Deadspin.com.

In July of 2008, Arenas signed a six-year, $111 million contract with the Washington Wizards (after he declined $127 million over six years to free up money for the team to sign other quality players).  Would the offer have been that high without the blog? Maybe not. The blog made Arenas relevant throughout basketball, and that relevancy combined with his exciting scoring ability made him extremely attractive for teams around the league.

Arenas had a way of filling the seats, like the time he predicted he would drop 50 points against the Blazers. He only scored 9, but the game sold because of his prediction. On his blog, he wrote, “Before that day I made that prediction, I don’t think anybody knew who I was in Portland. So by me saying I was going to score 50, about 14,000 people showed up on a Tuesday night.” The Wizards wanted him to be the face of the team and hoped his superstardom would not only help the team build an identity, but also bring them more wins. They simply could not afford to lose him to free agency.

A Final Analogy

Before there was Facebook, there was Friendster. Friendster launched in 2003 and grew rapidly, attracting three million users in the first few months.  In 2004, Facebook came along. While its growth was not as aggressive initially, Facebook has completely dominated Friendster and the rest of the social world in the past few years. Today, Facebook has about three times as many users and has made Friendster almost entirely irrelevant, at least in the United States (Friendster is still quite popular in Asia).

Gilbert Arenas is to Friendster what Shaq is to Facebook.

Arenas was revolutionary, as Friendster was, but did not hit at the right time. Shaq, on the other hand, came along just as social media was really booming and has benefited immensely. Arenas was too early and his efforts have been widely forgotten. Hopefully he can return to good health and return to the social media scene. With his personality, basketball talent, and now with the presence of so many tools Arenas never had (Twitter, Ustream, etc), I know he has a chance to make a comeback. Not sure I can say the same for Friendster.

About Sam Taggart

Sam is a Creative Strategist for VaynerMedia, a social media agency based in New York City. Sam previously worked as an Account Executive for the New York Jets as well as the New Jersey Nets and spent time working with former NBA player Jalen Rose as well as NFL safety Kerry Rhodes. He now focuses on creative strategy across VaynerMedia's portfolio. You can follow Sam at http://twitter.com/gosam & visit VaynerMedia at http://www.vaynermedia.com.

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