Ben Simmons poses with Commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 23, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
By Andrew Bucholtz on

While the Sacramento Kings’ selection of Georgios Papagiannis 13th overall in Thursday’s NBA Draft provoked plenty of criticism from media and even an apparent subtweet from Kings’ center DeMarcus Cousins, Papagiannis has one notable person in his corner; his very opinionated father. SI’s Luke Winn profiled Papagiannis last year and included comments from his father, Kanellos, and on Thursday, Winn spotlighted Kanellos’ Twitter account and its frequent shots at media (and especially those who have dared to say good things about Dragan Bender, who Phoenix took fourth overall):

https://twitter.com/lukewinn/status/746091178135805953

Here are some of those anti-Bender tweets from Kanellos Papagiannis over the last year, collected by Deadspin’s Patrick Redford:

https://twitter.com/HeatNBuckeyes/status/697496440256524288

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/697500126894497794

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/697487821192503297

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/672521143295844353

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/658595930376183809

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/743797806771613696

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/739903101038125056

Papagiannis is also big on promoting his son, retweeting positive reports on him and arguing with media who dissent:

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/740155857820913664

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/740156197404299264

https://twitter.com/kanellospapagia/status/699926071404314624

So, Papagiannis has at least one vocal supporter in his corner, and one willing to argue with any media who criticize him. Kanellos Papagiannis is far from the first family member we’ve seen taking on critics on Twitter (Ayesha Curry did plenty of this during the Finals), but it’s interesting how he seems to use Twitter entirely for this purpose, and how he still relies on that basic egg avatar. If he continues this, media covering the Kings may get used to seeing angry tweets from him.

[Deadspin]

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About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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