NBA star Chris Bosh has lined up the star of his next YouTube video: former Toronto Raptors teammate Charlie Villanueva.

Bosh beat Villanueva in a race to see who could reach 50,000 Twitter followers first. Bosh made it early Wednesday, thanking his newest followers for helping him reach the milestone first.

"None of this could have been possible without my Twitter Bosh army who got me to 50K!" Bosh tweeted. "We did it!"

It was close. Villanueva was only about 500 short of the goal when Bosh got there.

Bosh is one of the biggest supporters of the social networking site, which allows members to update their status, or comment on others, through the use of short "tweets."

Bosh updated his status 40 times in a three-hour span leading up to the conclusion of the bet. When he wasn't keeping followers up to speed on the competition, Bosh was enlisting the help of some of his celebrity Twitter friends, including Orlando Magic centre Dwight Howard, musicians Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Snoop Dogg and actress Alyssa Milano.

The loss was a costly one for Villanueva, who played with Bosh on the Raptors in 2005-06. Now a Detroit Piston, the 25-year-old Villanueva will have to perform as a character of Bosh's choosing for his next video. Bosh says he'll let his Twitter followers decide Villanueva's fate.

Bosh, 25, has become a YouTube favourite with his self-produced videos in which he plays a variety of humorous roles. Villanueva, who also dabbles in video production, was prepared to have Bosh perform a dance routine to Beyonce's "All The Single Ladies" if he won the bet.

Villanueva used the wager for a good cause, agreeing to donate thousands of pairs of sneakers to needy children in the Dominican Republic.

Villanueva, who was once criticized by Milwaukee head coach Scott Skiles for tweeting during halftime when he played for the Bucks, was a good sport in defeat -- and pledged to keep his promise.

"Well guys, Bosh beat me to 50K followers," Villanueva tweeted. "Respect. He went all out,. I'll still be a good sport and donate the 3K pairs of shoes."

Both men have a long way to go in the race to be the most popular NBA player on Twitter. That distinction belongs to Cleveland Cavaliers centre Shaquille O'Neal, who has more than 1.6 million followers -- and counting.