If These Knicks Could Tweet

Twitter has ruled the summer of '09. This offseason has already seen some prominent transactions and noteworthy media stories, but it seems that even the least plugged-in of basketball fans have migrated to the social networking site for their NBA fix. And while sportswriter feeds are popular, it's been the players themselves that have made the platform worthwhile. Stars and role players alike use Twitter as an outlet to promote their various enterprises, react to events around the league, and communicate with fans. It's remarkably entertaining and often endearing, partially because of the "Stars! They're just like us!" aspect, but mostly because a lot of these guys are flat-out hilarious. Such unfiltered access to our favorite athletes keeps the offseason interesting, and should be a real boon to league PR. Twitter is, in fact, "public relations" at its very essence.

Which brings me to the Knicks. For a team with its share of characters, the Knicks are frustratingly underrepresented on Twitter. Joe Crawford tweets only on occasion. Nate Robinson's feed comes and goes. Since his run of UStream fame, Eddy Curry hasn't posted much outside of what appears to be an argument with his sister. Wilson Chandler was at odds with a fake account in his name, and seems to have disappeared entirely. In fact, the best we've got might be Allan Houston, who's supposed to be too old for this game. And let's not forget Twitter's finest, whose internet antics would probably stop James Dolan's heart if he was still in NY. So, some Knicks make appearances on Twitter, but the all-around effort is too spotty and half-assed to command any attention.

I'm not sure if the dearth of Knick tweeters is just bad luck, or perhaps the result of organizational pressure. In either case, I think most of us would agree that some Twitter presence is needed. To the players: We want to know what you're up to. There's no basketball to watch and we're bored. To the organization: The idea of unfiltered player access is probably scary in the wake of the Isiah era, but most of these guys are perfectly innocent and plenty hilarious. What better way to broadcast that than through Twitter? Grab your laptops and Blackberries, Knicks. Make yourselves heard. Please.

After the jump, some imaginary mock-ups of what we're missing:

ToneyDouglas Just woke up. Doing what Toney Douglas do. (3 minutes ago)

AirSENEgal 140 characters? Horsefeathers! Any thinker worth his salt would feel totally shackled by 140 measly characters. My eloquence will not be lim (8 minutes ago)

Mr_Al_Harrington What up tweeps? Y'all know where a player can find some nunchucks? (30 minutes ago)

DLee42 Lady's coming over. She better not forget the lotions, bro. (38 minutes ago)

larryhughes0 Watching Return To Me for the third night in a row. Vintage Duchovny. (About 2 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Naptime. (about 3 hours ago)

IL_GALLO Just beat my papa in badminton. PUMP IT UP! (about 3 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Doing what Toney Douglas do. (about 4 hours ago)

JaredJeffries I am away from my computer right now. (about 4 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Doing what Toney Douglas do. (about 6 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Doing what Toney Douglas do. (about 7 hours ago)

TheRealChrisDuhon I'm SINGLE and SEXY! Plz check out my new pics! http://twitpic.com/asdf (about 10 hours ago)

Yes, Chris Duhon is a spambot.