NBA stars must follow strict social media rule which has been in place since 2009

Many of the NBA biggest stars are active social media users with millions of followers.

LeBron James boats 59.2 million followers on X, for example, while Steph Curry has used his YouTube channel to showcase his passion for golf and interview key sporting figures.

But since 2009, the world's top basketball players have had to abide by a strict rule around the use of mobile phones and social media after one player took things a little too far.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva tweeted during half-time of a game against the Boston Celtics in March 2009.

LeBron James wore his Liverpool collaboration shirt to an LA Lakers match in March. (Image: Getty)

"In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt," Villanueva posted on the then-fledgling app. "We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up."

In September that year, the NBA instituted a rule banning players from using mobile phones – and thus posting on social media – during games. And the strict new order was well received around the league.

"I think that rule was applied to those who use it irresponsibly, but I don't really tweet during games anyway," said Shaquille O'Neal, who was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the time. "There were a lot of uncalled-for situations this summer, guys doing things that really aren't good for themselves or the NBA brand. I think that rule was more suited toward them. I've always done things above board."

"We'll have strict rules on it," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said at the time. "Social media, we will not accept that in our building during office hours. That's the way we'll look at it when we're coming to practice, to shoot-arounds and to games. We're coming to work and we're coming to get a job done. That's not time for social media."

"When you come to work, you come to work," said Heat superstar Dywane Wade. "You can tweet before, you can tweet after. It's not addicting like where I'm going to take a bathroom break, go downstairs and tweet. I think people take it a little too far with that. But I think it's very good to have communications with your fans personally. A lot of people, you can see them in a different light."

Mike Dunleavy Snr, who was coaching the Los Angeles Clippers back then told the Los Angeles Times that his team already had a strict social media policy in place.: "The minute you're on our property, there's no tweeting. . . . They can do it, but they'll be fined."