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After the Knicks won their championship in June, longtime NBA X/Twitter personality World Wide Wob walked away from his account with more than one million followers and hasn’t looked back.
Wob, the 39-year-old creator whose real name is Rob Perez, parlayed a career initially spent selling tickets into becoming a social media personality. In the mid-2010s Perez blogged for Barstool Sports and The Big Lead before reaching a full-time job at Fox Sports, writing in a digital division that was then helmed by current ESPN executive Mike Foss.
His career later included stops at Cycle (with former Front Office Sports investor Jason Stein), The Action Network, SportsGrid, FanDuel, and Underdog, a licensing deal with ProphetX, and hosting roles for Bleacher Report and SiriusXM’s NBA channel.
“My watch has ended,” Perez tweeted in June. “Thanks for everything.”
As the new NBA season began—with people wondering on social media where Perez went— FOS caught up with him and asked him about his decision to step away.
Front Office Sports: What made you decide to walk away from NBA coverage and your primary social media presence?
World Wide Wob: Nothing special, just a combination of events. The Knicks finally winning the title/freeing me from these lifelong shackles, X pivoting its primary content model to a For You recommendation algorithm, the turnover inside X’s sports department and not knowing anyone who works there anymore after the acquisition, and uncompetitive creator earnings compared to other platforms all led to general apathy towards continuing to produce the high quality content I once did. I spent all day, every day, pouring resources into its creation for about 15 years straight, so this felt like the right time to embrace the burnout.
FOS: Do you think you’ll ever return?
WWW: X mutates at an airborne virus pace, so if a future variant inspires me again—I don’t see why not.
FOS: How did you save enough money to walk away from this career? Did you have successful investments besides earning money from NBA talk?
WWW: Good timing and creating your own luck.
FOS: Are you doing anything else for work now?
WWW: Still covering LA police chases daily on Twitch. Copy [merchandise], I also post some NBA-related stuff on Threads, whose team I’ve enjoyed working with thus far.
FOS: What is the rationale for continuing to tweet from your protected “burner” account as opposed to the well trafficked World Wide Wob account?
WWW: The people who follow that account are interested in my daily life and non-NBA commentary, so it’s a separate space for me to stay connected with my community. Think of it the same way YouTubers create alternate channels focusing on content different from their main one.
FOS: Since you’ve been away during them: What did you make of Mark Walter’s stunning move to sell the Lakers, and the NBA dropping the hammer on Steve Ballmer and the Clippers?
WWW: Jeanie Buss is one of the most important people to enter my life [note: the two have been friends for years], so I hope whatever resolution comes from all the lawsuits keeps her connected to the Lakers franchise, which I know she loves so, so much.
As for the Clippers, they simply got sloppy. There’s always been a ton of gray area re: cap circumvention, but when you leave a blood trail the way that they did— they can’t be surprised if/when the axe falls. Watching ESPN navigate the whole ordeal was pretty fascinating, considering their financial investment with the NBA, and their practices during the reporting process should definitely be used in journalism classes moving forward.
