NBA-League adding @NBA social media handle to game ball

(Reuters) - The National Basketball Association is adding its @NBA social media identifier to its official game ball starting with the 2014-15 season in October. The Twitter handle will appear under the "Official Game Ball" wording, just to the left of the league's logo, the NBA said in a statement. The move makes the NBA the first professional sports league to put its social media handle on the official game ball of that respective sport, according to the league. The NBA's official Twitter account has nearly 11 million followers, outpacing the National Football League (7 million), Major League Baseball (3.7 million) and National Hockey League. (2.6 million). (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto. Editing by Steve Keating.)