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    NBA Star Uses Twitter -- And a Platypus -- to Prank Sports Media

    By Sam Laird | Mashable – Wed, May 16, 2012

    Around the sports media scene, Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee has a certain reputation: Quirky, unique, a bit out there, something of a laughingstock at times.

    Reporters and fans love to chuckle at his on-court goofiness. Examples abound, but here's the best one: a legendary GIF of McGee throwing up a wild shot and then earnestly running back on defense -- except his team still has the ball.

    [More from Mashable: Giants Fans, Now You Can Wear a Super Bowl Ring Too]

    This week, however, McGee decided to turn the tables on those who love to poke fun at a young millionaire basketball player just trying to do his best. On Monday afternoon, he posted this tweet to his 57,000 Twitter followers:

    He followed that up with this picture:

    McGee's NBA coworker Marreese Speights was duly intrigued. So McGee continued hyping his new pets:

    Fans also took a lot of interest in McGee's platypus, sending him congratulations, criticism and tweets of admiration. McGee continued to tweet about the trials and tribulations of a platypus owner. He named his pets Peter and Paul, he said. But apparently, the platypus is a dangerous and poisonous animal that turned his hand "Barney purple."

    Sports media -- including a Washington, D.C., Gannett affiliate -- eventually picked up the story.

    Then McGee closed his trap with a Wednesday tweet reading, "Jokes up!!!!!!!" Next, he chastised the media with these tweets:

    Boom! Better luck next time, media. But Denver area sportscaster Vic Lombardi spoke for many when he replied to McGee's Twitter scolding with this tweet:

    Do you think McGee's prank was a good use of Twitter? Let us know in the comments.

    This story originally published on Mashable here.

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