Group of friends go viral for hilarious re-enactment of Cavs' late-game blunder
When J.R. Smith dribbled out the clock at the end of regulation in Game 1 of the NBA Finals rather than put up a shot, call a timeout, pass the ball to LeBron James or do anything other than forget the score, he gave the Golden State Warriors a breath of new life.
That new life was all they needed to maul the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime and win 124-114, stunning Cavs fans across the nation.
The play launched a thousand memes on NBA Twitter, as Smith had pulled off the “of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest” heard ’round the world.
Take, for instance, these kids having some fun in the playground before bringing some impromptu performance art to the streets of their hometown and into a local mall:
#JRSmithChallenge 😂😂💀💀 pic.twitter.com/Z8UZDcQjM6
— Samuel Grubbs (@SamuelGrubbs1) June 2, 2018
The uploader, Samuel Grubbs, had another gem of a meme, pointing out that nobody’s talking about George Hill choking at the free throw line by missing the potential game-winner.
Meanwhile, George Hill quietly dipped outta there like he didn’t just miss the most crucial free throw of the NBA finals… pic.twitter.com/pIm4ownM2Q
— Samuel Grubbs (@SamuelGrubbs1) June 2, 2018
He even had a Mister Rogers-like affirmation for everyone reading — except Smith — and threw a Crying Jordan in for good measure.
It’s okay to be white.
It’s okay to be black.
It’s okay to be Asian.
It’s okay to be Hispanic.
It’s okay to be female.
It’s okay to be male.
It’s okay to be rich.
It’s okay to be broke.
It’s okay to be YOU.But it's NOT okay to be JR Smith in Cleveland tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Z6gAOszTKP
— Samuel Grubbs (@SamuelGrubbs1) June 1, 2018
The theme of Smith running completely off after the rebound was perfect Twitter fodder, as this clip demonstrates:
So this is where JR Smith was going🥃😂 pic.twitter.com/ilvwNbLweh
— Supa Crank It™ (@SupaCrankIt) June 1, 2018
But as Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd pointed out, if the referees had done their jobs correctly, Smith wouldn’t have been in position to make a fool of himself:
"If the refs don't overturn a judgment call… The Cavs are up by two, 35 seconds left, LeBron's ball… We don't have an overtime. We don't have a JR Smith controversy." — @ColinCowherd #Herdin60 pic.twitter.com/loVJdhSGGP
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 2, 2018
Thanks to the NBA deciding to drag out the NBA Finals so long that if the series goes seven games, Game 7 will be on Father’s Day, the internet gets to 24-hour-news-cycle its way through another whole day of hand-wringing, meme laughing and talking about anything other than how the Cavaliers can possibly bounce back and win this series after blowing the best chance they’re going to get to steal home-court advantage away from the Warriors.
Meanwhile, anyone who picked the Warriors in five has got to be feeling pretty good right now.
If you’re a Cavs fan, though, it’s been a rough couple of days.
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