On Monday, the Raptors took time to acknowledge their fans' support of All-Star Scottie Barnes, who had been subjected to insensitive harassment from a social media account titled BrickMuse on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Just one day prior, Raptors fans found a BrickMuse post promoting a graphic T-shirt featuring images of Barnes along with his name and insensitive messaging. Toronto's fans quickly came to Barnes' defense, finding information on the account's creator and reporting the post that promoted the merchandise.
Six and a half hours after the BrickMuse post was called out and reported for its insensitivity, the account appeared to have been banned or deactivated. Any search of the account yielded a blank page along with the message that "This account doesn't exist."
The BrickMuse account has since reappeared on X but is now private. The purported administrator of the account has not commented on the post.
Here's how Barnes' post is connected to Sunday's events.
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Scottie Barnes' tweet, explained
Hours after the saga seemingly came to an end, Barnes posted "Job well done" along with a saluting emoji and a crying laughing emoji. Barnes finished his message by saying "I love our fans!"
Job well done🫡😂 I love our fans!
— Scott Barnes (@ScottBarnes561) March 4, 2024
While he was the subject of insensitive harassment, Barnes' use of a crying laughing emoji suggests he was unfazed by BrickMuse's negativity.
In addition to the temporary deactivation of the BrickMuse account, the creator of the merchandise, which featured a graphic T-shirt featuring images of Barnes along with his name and insensitive messaging, cannot be found on X. No merchandise is currently listed for sale on their website.
The Raptors' acknowledgment of their fans came the morning after Barnes' post as the franchise's official account called the fans "real ones" for their support.
Y’all are real ones 🤝 https://t.co/vGOSOeBICy
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 4, 2024
Barnes' fans have proudly accepted the moniker of Scottie FC, a name that represents Scottie "Fan Club" but draws parallels to professional soccer teams' use of "FC" to denote Football Club.
While Barnes did not clarify what exactly he was shouting his fans out for, it can be deduced that it was not about his recent injury. He followed his "Job well done" post with a post thanking fans "for all the love and support over the last couple of days!" which would align with the timeline of his broken hand.
MORE: Hand injury timeline, updates on Scottie Barnes
Barnes, 22, is one of the NBA's more promising young stars. As impressive as he is on the floor, his good-natured personality and exuberance off the floor have resulted in such passionate backing from the group now known as Scottie FC.
