Monday, Mar. 28, 2011
Shaquille O'Neal
Followers: 3.6 million
Sample tweet: "hey @justinbieber call me if u needa back up dancer, u got my numba"
Shaq is the godfather of sports tweets: the athlete who has amassed the most followers and has had — by far — the most fun with Twitter. On nothing more than impulse, Shaq might tweet his location and give fans five minutes to show up to greet him, often offering game tickets or other goodies as booty. As more athletes have taken to Twitter, Shaq's impact has been diluted. But his weird bromance with Justin Bieber and his random raps — "Shaq dmc. In the place to be. I been doin this here since 93. Huh huh ha huh. Raaaaaa" — still make him a must-follow.