• A former NBA social media manager went rogue using their Facebook page
• The perpetrator, Dean Joannou, made two posts on the league’s Facebook
• In one post he attacked Adam Silver and the league’s work culture and in the other, he advertised his new business
Former NBA social media manager Dean Joannou made two posts on the league’s Facebook page without their knowledge.
Many initially assumed the account was hacked, but Joannou made it clear he had access to the accounts even though he had resigned from the NBA. Whether he gained access through hacking is unknown.
First, he posted this at 8:25 AM Eastern Time: “I left my position as a Digital and Social Content Publisher with the NBA to start my own business. My team at Epoch Digital Consulting provides you with full-service social media management and PR for small businesses, influencers, and charitable organizations for $100 per month or just 3% of the price of having a social media manager.”
Then he posted another message 20 minutes later: “How do I log out of this? Haven’t worked here in weeks. Anyway, the NBA overextends its social media employees greatly to the detriment of their health and social lives for a salary of less than $50k annually after taxes. I worked 14-hour shifts without breaks at times. Shoutout Adam Silver. We don’t get health insurance until 90 days on the job! That’s silly, isn’t it? Glad I resigned, no need for a job to get in the way of your happiness. Donate to mental health causes”
It’s clear that Dean wanted to expose the inner workings of the NBA’s social media team and how the employees are treated. While he will likely face serious consequences for his whistleblowing, he aired legitimate concerns about the social media team’s intense workload and lack of compensation.
Namedropping Adam Silver is another bold move. While the Commissioner likely doesn’t manage the social media team on a day-to-day level, anything that reflects poorly on the league reflects poorly on him.
The treatment likely took a mental toll on Dean, who’s pivoted from working for the league to helping charitable businesses grow. This post on the NBA’s Facebook also gets his business a lot of attention that he would not be able to create on his own.
The NBA Needs To Address This
Even if Dean’s actions may not be correct in terms of the digital seizure of an official league account, the points he raised remain salient. The league is growing multifold every year, and contracts for players are becoming richer than ever.
League employees don’t need to make the millions that the league’s players do, but they should be fairly compensated for their hours of work based on their role. Restricting insurance and overworking their social media employees is not a good look for the league.
Instead of demonizing what Dean has done by going rogue on the league’s official account, maybe the NBA should introspect on how they treat their employees and what would drive them to take such drastic action to enforce change.
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