Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers issue statement after official tweet leads to NBA player Twitter fight

Published Jan. 28, 2017 2:22 p.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

NBA teams make better use of social media than any other professional sports franchises — but sometimes, trying to stay fresh and original results in crossing the line.

After a seemingly harmless tweet from the Portland Trail Blazers' official twitter account tipped off a back-and-forth between C.J. McCollum and the Grizzlies' Chandler Parsons on Friday night, Portland team president Chris McGowan issued a statement to ESPN on Saturday:

"We give our social media staff pretty strict guidelines, so they operate knowing what is appropriate and what isn't. This one was meant to be light hearted and fun but was probably a little too close to the line we try to keep on mediums like Twitter. It's a learning lesson for us and we will be more mindful going forward.

"Our official account is meant to be fun and positive. It's not our intention to cause things to turn negative. In this case it did, and that is what we want to avoid going forward."