Patrick Williams, the Bulls’ first-round pick, catapulted in follower growth on social media during the ‘20 NBA Draft, showcasing just how rapidly collegiate athletes can become influential stars. The No. 4 pick overall, Williams by far was the biggest mover of the night with a 142% follower increase on Instagram and an exponential 13,186% increase on Twitter. The Florida State product saw his Twitter account go from unverified with just 70 followers to verified with 9,300 followers and counting.
INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE: France’s Killian Hayes (followers up 501% on Twitter) and Serbia’s Aleksej Pokusevski (357% on Twitter) were the second and third highest movers, respectively. Hayes garnered more than 36,000 total engagements from posts the night before the Draft, with branded content from endorsers Verizon and Marriott Int’l. However, in his first post after being drafted, he was able to generate almost 45,000 total engagements, 9,000 more than the combined total of the previously mentioned pre-draft posts.
WE'RE THE TOP GUYS: Warriors pick James Wiseman led all players with seven posts both before and after the Draft all featuring different brands. The diversity of his pre-Draft posts, as well as going with the No. 2 overall selection, saw him gain more than 124,000 followers on Instagram, more than any other player in the Draft. LaMelo Ball, the most popular athlete on social media in this draft, saw modest overall gains on Instagram and Twitter after going to the Hornets with the No. 3 pick. His growth is slightly misleading, however, when considering his prior popularity. Ball gained more than 117,000 followers on Instagram, second most in the Draft, and led in growth on Twitter with more than 19,000 new followers. Anthony Edwards, who the T'Wolves took with the first overall pick, took a different approach with multiple posts sponsored by fashion brand Tissot. Edwards, with a relatively high follower count, saw moderate growth across Instagram and Twitter.
FOR THE BRANDS: Indochino (7), Mountain Dew (7), Verizon (7) and Wingstop (6) were featured in more posts from draftees than any other brands. Of these posts, Indochino held the top three most engaged posts among sponsors, with one from Wiseman topping them all at a total of 17,193 engagements. Immanuel Quickley, who is headed to the Knicks after being taken 25th, had the second highest post for Indochino with 13,819 in total engagements. Future Knicks teammate and No. 8 pick Obi Toppin had Indochino’s third highest at 13,030.
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