Last season, as our own Will Brinson reported, the Bucks’ Charlie Villanueva tweeted the following at halftime:

In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We’re playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up.

This sort of incendiary language cannot be tolerated. This man surreptitiously communicated to the public that his coach wants him to win! Fine this man! Do something!

The NBA formally announced its new social media guidelines Wednesday, informing teams through a league memorandum that the use of cell phones, PDAs and other electronic communications devices — and thus accessing Twitter, Facebook and similar social media sites — is now prohibited during games for players, coaches and other team personnel involved in the game.

Goodness, why?

The league says it is instituting these restrictions “due to the numerous complaints that the NBA and its teams received from fans during last season” and is threatening “fines imposed upon the offending team” for non-compliance.

Wait a minute. Fans were angry because … players were making unauthorized public announcements. This doesn’t fit; it’s like trying to jam a Lego into whatever the singular form of a K’Nex is. I’m calling bullpucky. The Villanueva incident wasn’t completely isolated; it was, however, reflective of a slate of generally inoffensive and inconsequential tweets on behalf of NBA players. Seriously: I challenge you to envision a significant contingent of NBA fans who would bother to contact the league office and register complaints over mid-game tweeting.

This is obviously a case of the NBA preemptively trying to protect its brand — this isn’t a surprise, but it is the real motive behind this league’s straw man of a rationale. I can empathize with the league’s motivation. It wants to control the flow of information, and thereby its own image.

I would also wholeheartedly encourage players to continue to fearlessly tweet in the face of any and all fines the league cares to levy. They can fine you, guys, but they can’t stop you. Not that I, as a fan, care — most of your tweets are boring — but if you can exercise free speech for a relatively small fee, you ought to. After all, it goes to charity.