The National Basketball Association is doing damage control on social media after a rogue former employee penned a disparaging post about the organization on the league’s official Facebook page.
On Monday morning, the former employee hurled stinging accusations about the league’s treatment of employees, writing that the NBA “overextends its social media employees greatly to the detriment of their health and social lives” while noting that their salary was under $50,000 after taxes and that at times they worked 14-hour shifts without breaks.
A former NBA employee posted this on the league’s official Facebook page this morning.
It was deleted after roughly 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/RkLX2ZafOk
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 21, 2023
“Glad I resigned,” the post read. “No need for a job to get in the way of your happiness.”
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The post was reportedly removed after 20 minutes, but social media users took screenshots before it was taken down, per Front Office Sports.
The NBA currently has over 40 million Facebook followers.
A second post, which was also deleted, credited a person named Dean Joannou as the scorned employee.
In the post, Joannou says that he left his job as the Digital and Social Content Publisher with the NBA to start his own business.
@NBA got PWNED. I don’t know you Dean Joannou…nor if you’re even a real person, but I salute you nonetheless! pic.twitter.com/6ikzhCkdpV
— Drei Drachen (@bigdaddyj_tn) August 21, 2023
Entrepreneur confirmed via LinkedIn that Joannou was the man who created both posts. He said that he had accidentally posted an ad for his startup company to the NBA’s page because he was still logged into the league’s account — even though he had terminated his employment.
“I quickly deleted it as an admin on the NBA’s FB page,” he explained. “Then I used the platform to vent on the conditions there.”
Joannou told Entrepreneur that he worked in the position as a contractor for 10 months before quitting in July 2023.
He maintained that the main purpose of the post was to encourage those who viewed it to donate to mental health causes, stating that if even just a few people would do so after reading his call to action then, “the debacle would be a net positive.”
Still, Joannou does not regret the post.
“I also formally do not apologize, and the NBA should consider improving their cybersecurity,” he told Entrepreneur.
In April, a leaked letter viewed by The New York Times called for the league to “significantly limit hiring” and cut budgets for the rest of the year, citing current “economic headwinds” in the U.S. as the primary reason for the scaling back.
The NBA has not publicly commented on the post as of Tuesday morning. Entrepreneur has reached out to the NBA for comment.
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