C.J. McCollum, Chandler Parsons showcase NBA Twitter pettiness

Chandler Parsons and C.J. McCollum had a petty war of words on Twitter Friday night, showcasing the new age of social media in the league.

Pettiness in the NBA seems to be a recurring topic in the past week or so. Whether it’s Rajon Rondo’s clap back on Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler after the latter two questioned the Bulls’ fight or LeBron James lobbying for another playmaker, there have been plenty of messages sent back and forth that change is needed in various organizations.

So it’s odd that, in this week of mini NBA chaos, a Twitter beef between the oft-injured Chandler Parsons and C.J. McCollum would snatch the headlines Saturday morning. It all started with Parsons, who has played only 343 minutes this season, poking the bear after the Portland Trail Blazers dogged him for air-balling a shot.

This, of course, didn’t sit well with the Blazers, who ended up winning Friday’s game against the Grizzlies, 112-109. McCollum cracked his Twitter fingers and fired right back with a response that would make John Wall vs. the Celtics blush.

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Parsons tried to get back into it with a weak-sauce tweet about the amount of money he was paid in the spending extravaganza that this summer became after the new salary cap kicked in. But it wasn’t enough, as most of NBA Twitter reasonably agreed that this beef was pretty one-sided.

No Twitter beef would be complete without a senior figure trying to dispell the nonsense and that’s exactly what Trail Blazers team president Chris McGowan did. McGowan issued a statement that said Portland’s account might have gone too far. Parsons seemed to be fine with it, tweeting that there were “no hard feelings” after the event.

None of this is particularly relevant as Portland still trails the eighth seed in the Western Conference by a half game and sit six games behind Memphis for the No. 7 seed. But a brewing rivalry in the West gives us another reason to watch in the dog days of the NBA before the All-Star Game in a couple weeks.

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That was the last time the two teams play in the regular season, but we can always hope for a playoff series if either moves up the rankings before the end of the season. May NBA pettiness forever be this entertaining.