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NBA World Pays Tribute to Fallen Troll Account ‘TheNBACentel’ on Social Media

Gone but never forgotten.

Mike Kadlick

Giannis says a prayer before a game.
Giannis says a prayer before a game. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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The NBA world has lost a legend.

Not a player, not a coach, not even a referee—but rather a parody social media account that has tipped the league upside down a time or two over the last several years.

The X (formerly Twitter) account "@TheNBACentel,” a play on the NBA news aggregation page "NBACentral,” was effectively shut down on Wednesday afternoon and has since had all of its posts deleted. The account had amassed a follower count of 150k+ on the platform and was well known for not only spreading fake stories and misinformation about the league, but also for having many prominent sports media professionals fall for the gags.

Getting "Centel'd" became a thing. Now? It may be a thing of the past.

Given the popularity of the account and its notoriety on the internet, the NBA world—and even some verified NBA team accounts—paid tribute to the loss of Centel on X. Here's a look at some of the best reactions to the news:

We'll miss you, Centel. Gone, but never forgotten.

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Mike Kadlick
MIKE KADLICK

Mike Kadlick is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the New England Patriots for WEEI sports radio in Boston and continues to do so for CLNS Media. He has a master's in public relations from Boston University. Kadlick is also an avid runner and a proud lover of all things pizza.

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