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"NBA player Steve Blake and his wife have received a stream of hate \u2014 including at least one death threat \u2014 from fans via Twitter after the Lakers guard missed a crucial shot in an important playoff game. \nBlake had an open three-pointer that would have won the second game of the Lakers' Western Conference Semifinals matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. But he missed, the Lakers went down 2-0 in the series and a comeback appears improbable. \nLater that night, Blake's wife Kristen retweeted this message a Twitter user sent her husband: \n\nWow RT @JAMESALLONYOU: @SteveBlake5 I just don't get it, You bitch nigga. I hope your family gets murdered. Fuck\n\u2014 kristen blake (@kristenblake2) May 17, 2012\n\nThe account that sent that message no longer exists. But Blake and his wife apparently received hate from all directions \u2014 she later tweeted that she blocked more than 500 people that evening. \nThe story then took another bizarre Twitter turn on Friday morning, when news outlets including ESPN and the Associated Press reported that Lakers teammate and basketball megastar Kobe Bryant used the social network to come to Blake's defense. But Bryant doesn't have a Twitter account \u2014 he joined in 2011, drew more than 35,000 followers in a matter of hours, then promptly deleted his profile. The tweet ESPN and others attributed to Bryant actually came from this fan account:\n\nThose Lakers fans who said bad things to Blake and his wife on twitter - you should be ashamed of yourself. espn.go.com/los-angeles/nb\u2026\n\u2014 Kobe Bryant (@teamKB24) May 18, 2012\n\nBlake is not the first pro athlete to get Twitter death threats after a playoff snafu this year. Wide receiver Kyle Williams of the San Francisco 49ers likely cost his team a Super Bowl berth in January, then received a death threat from a fan who later claimed his account was hacked. \nBlake's situation seems to have resolved itself alright, with other Twitter users coming to his family's defense. His wife posted this message Friday morning: \n\nI am deeply grateful &amp; humbled by the outpouring of love, support, &amp; most of all prayers for our family in light of recent events-THANK YOU!\n\u2014 kristen blake (@kristenblake2) May 18, 2012\n\nDo you think a Twitter death threat from an angry fan is something an athlete should be taken seriously or not? Let us know in the comments.\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/05/18/nba-player-twitter-death-threat/>