With a business as huge and as diverse as the NBA, social media has played an enormous role in connecting the league with basketball fans from all over the world. The NBA is a social media giant, currently at the top of the digital stratosphere, dwarfing other professional sports organizations such as the UFC, NFL, NHL and MLB.

That is why the NBA is holding its first annual NBA Social Media Awards. With the back-and-forth digital content from NBA and its fans, the Social Media Awards is a stage where the biggest on-court moments and amazing highlight plays that have instigated numerous online discussions will be given special recognition.

Prestigious awards such as the BIG and Triple Threat awards will honor active players that have widely used social media like Facebook and Twitter as a means to connect with fans, and as well as former NBA players-turned-analysts who have garnered high social media relevance in their own right. The other categories are the FTW award, #TRENDSETTER, the FanNation award, Social Slam award, the Snap Shot award, and the LOL award.

The NBA Social Awards, which will be hosted by Shaquille O’Neal and Rick Fox, will harvest the winners based on the votes casted online by basketball fans from across the globe. For a complete rundown of the categories and nominees, visit www.nba.com/SMA.

Catch the live telecast of the first annual NBA Social Media Awards on June 21, 9am on NBA Premium.