Orlando Magic, NBA Teams Show Support For Banned Twitter Parody Account 'NBA Centel'

NBA Centel [sic], regarded as the greatest sports parody account on X/Twitter, may be done for good.

The news caught everyone by surprise — NBA fans were spiraling over the sudden loss of the ‘fake news' generator, which has amassed a huge following for its ‘so bad it’s good' fake news headlines.

On Wednesday, fans posted screenshots of an inactive NBA Centel account on X, with nearly 350K followers on the social network. The tweets weren't available for viewing, and the account appeared seriously handcuffed. They appeared to break a cardinal sin on X. The question remains: what was it?

To many, losing Centel was the end of an era in sports commentary, akin to the loss of "FIRE JOE MORGAN."

NBA Fans React, As Do NBA Teams, To 'Loss of NBA Centel

"Free Centel" started trending on X Wednesday night as the swell of support and mourning joined forces. 

NBA teams got involved, with the Orlando Magic and Sacramento Kings posting "Free Centel" and "RIP Centel," respectively. 

The Clippers dedicated their win over the Bulls to the fallen parody account. 

When the history books name the grandfathers of sports parody accounts, NBA Centel will definitely have its chapter. 

Is There Hope?

The account did sport a new tag, labeled as ‘Parody,' which could suggest it was flagged for posting one of its ridiculously improbable headlines.

"Centel’d" is a term coined by the internet that points out media outlets who report their bad news as real news. Merriam-Webster acknowledged the term as an official word in 2024.

READ: Parody NBA Account Somehow Gets Acknowledged By Dictionary Merriam-Webster

X Chief Elon Musk may face his fiercest media pushback if the social network is found guilty of ‘banning’ NBA Centel.

Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela