One man’s epic quest to find out which NBA players own cats

ONE man is on a mission to expose something you have always wanted to know about NBA players, but have been afraid to ask.

The most bizarre NBA stats you’ll read

THERE are a number of sports fanatics that spend their time endlessly analysing statistics in a hope to become experts in the performance of athletes.

And then there is the man analysing data to find out the burning question on everyone’s minds — which NBA players own cats?

The man, who wants his identity kept hidden, said he never expected his far-fetched feline curiosity to gain any real momentum.

“The idea of an NBA cat census was a joke at first,” he told the Daily Dot.

“But afterwards, I’d be watching a basketball game and find myself wondering if any of those players really did own cats. So I started digging around online.”

However, with no documentation of cat ownership in the NBA in existence, the man was forced to think outside the box and the NBA Catwatch program was born.

After digging through media outlets in a hope to discover leads, the data enthusiast began to scope Instagram and other social media accounts for hopes of feline activity.

“We can learn so much about other people without ever meeting them, so it seemed like [it] shouldn’t be that hard to learn if a person has a cat,” he said.

“Especially since if you have a cat you have to take photos of it and post them on the internet all the time.”

Hi @tonyparker. I just saw your cat in a documentary. Can you tell me the name of that cat, and if you have others? pic.twitter.com/840Kycq7Ko

— NBA CATWATCH (@NBAcatwatch) July 2, 2015

Wanting to maintain authenticity in the project, the man has been relentless in confirming information discovered in his cat ownership census is accurate.

“I do everything I can to actually confirm whether a player owns a cat with them, a contact, or an actual IRL journalist,” he said.

“I’m serious about doing a good job documenting NBA cat ownership.”

Since starting his quest, the man has created the @NBACatwatch Twitter account, which has since gained a cult following of people wanting to help uncover the truth.

“A lot of people on Twitter send me tips, or tweet players for me,” he said.

“That’s been really helpful, because it’s more people able to scroll through thousands of Instagrams looking for signs of a cat.”

In addition to using Twitter to update loyal followers of the project, it is also used to contact players to see if they are willing to disclose their cat ownership status.

However, he admits that avenue is yet to return any sufficient results — even with his loyal followers bombarding players with the question.

So i wake up and this is what i see...and thats only a few of them lol. #whatisgoingon https://t.co/Ch8nYxcXE4 pic.twitter.com/fg37zdzlCC

— rudy gobert (@rudygobert27) June 29, 2015

In order to leave no stone unturned, the man has also taken to contacting the NBA teams directly, but he admits that is also yet to yield positive results.

“I understand because whose job would it be to ask players about their cat ownership status so some website can post about it?”

As for his mission, the man is aware his efforts are not really important in the scheme of things.

“It is not actually important for people to know which NBA players are cat owners. Obviously. I’m aware of that,” he said.

“The online world around the NBA is so fun, and there’s so much great writing and content around the game, the teams and the players, so I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. I guess it’s important to me in that way.”

Oh, in case you were wondering there are currently nine confirmed cat owners in NBA, six players who have been in possession of a cat that may not own and six players who are terrified of the feline variety.