Did you know one of the most popular Warriors accounts on Twitter belongs to a 19-year-old college kid in France?
Antonin Orgueil has embedded himself into the virtual fabric of Dub Nation since creating his @antonin_org account in 2019 as a summer hobby after graduating high school. In the two years since, Orgueil has amassed nearly 39,000 followers, sharing Warriors video highlights and stats showcasing Steph Curry’s greatness.
Not bad for the communications major at Rennes 2 University in Rennes, France, who said he feels connected to the Bay Area.
“It feels crazy,” Orgueil said.
It seems like Orgueil has the midas touch when it comes to his tweet game. Virtually every dispatch makes waves on Warriors Twitter with thousands of engagements. Like his quick video cut of Steph Curry getting T’d up then T’ing up the referee on Sunday -- which has already racked up nearly 300,000 views in less than 48 hours.
Orgueil said he spends hours poring over video for his clips and sifting through websites for historical stats to provide some context for Curry’s ridiculousness with the Warriors. He hopes to enter into the world of sports video production someday but is already getting real-time feedback from a global audience. And they like what he’s making.
With the time difference, Warriors home games usually start at 4 a.m. local time for Orgueil, who remains tapped into the live conversation from afar.
“Sometimes I can sleep before and just wake up for the game,” Orgueil said. “Sometimes I’m just excited for the game so I can’t really sleep before and I end up going to sleep at 7 or 7:30. I’m not getting a ton of hours of sleep.”
It makes it easier to walk around campus after a ‘W’ though and the Warriors are off to an 18-2 start.
“Last year I watched all 72 games and sometimes you stay up until 6 a.m. and your team loses on a dumb play late in the game. Awful thing,” Orgueil said. “This year is cool. You are tired the next day, but you feel good because they won. So far so good.”
Orgueil’s parents support him, but told him, “It’s cool. Don’t give up on school.”
A few years ago, Orgueil’s parents purchased a sports TV package that included an occasional NBA game. One day during the 2013 Western Conference first round, Orgueil flipped on the game and saw Curry going wild in front of a rambunctious Oracle Arena crowd. He was hooked on the spot.
“Immediately,” Orgueil said. “He made two or three crazy shots, all the crowd, the atmosphere was crazy. I loved it. That was really the one thing that made me watch NBA basketball.”
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Orgueil dabbled with the account for about a year but dove in headfirst during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 with daily posts. With most of the world quarantining at home during lockdown, Orgueil started racking up views. At that point he had about 4,000 followers.
“I really had nothing else to do than make videos or watch the NBA,” Orgueil said. “I spent hours every day doing it. There was a ton of people on Twitter at that point. … It started to go up like crazy.”
The account hasn’t stopped building momentum since, often being featured on huge Instagram accounts like ESPN and SportsCenter. Orgueil said the big-time mentions have become commonplace at this point.
“I’m starting to get used to it,” Orgueil said. “I don’t really realize until I take two steps back, like, man, that’s crazy.”
Orgueil also posts content on YouTube (Antonin 30), where his most popular videos include a Curry half-court shot montage (2.2 million views) and a compilation of Curry shots that went in the hoop but didn't count (1.3 million views).
Draymond Green recently shared an @antonin_org video but Orgueil's still waiting to get a seal of approval from Steph himself. So, what would Orgueil tell Curry if he had the chance?
“I would ask him how it feels to be that guy,” Orgueil said. “To be on the court, every night, every two days and be in Steph Curry. I think it’s a good feeling when you are a player like that. Just the fun he plays with, the energy he always brings, always smiling.”
You might notice that Orgueil’s tweets often feature simple English (phrases like “Stephen Curry plays basketball today”) and that’s by design to reach a broader audience. English is Orgueil’s second language and interacting with Warriors fans has helped him learn.
“I never tweeted in French,” Orgueil said. “It became a habit to tweet in English. Not only English people will see my tweets. I have maybe one or two thousand followers from France and they can all understand my tweets because it’s basic English. It allows me to be a little more worldwide.”
Orgueil said basketball remains the second most popular sport in France behind soccer, noting Tony Parker’s impact on his generation. Orgueil has never been to the United States but has a March trip planned to the Bay Area and is in talks with ESPN about a possible credential. For now, he’s getting tickets to see three matchups -- against the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers.
“Counting the days,” Orgueil said.
