Culture

Cavs vs. Celtics: Twitter Can’t Stop Dunking on Cleveland and LeBron James

Yikes.

by Catie Keck
ESPN/YouTube

After the Boston Celtics crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-83 in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday, there was plenty of chatter online. But it was Cavs superstar LeBron James who found himself on the receiving end of the internet’s hilarity, with no shortage of memes hitting Twitter following the team’s loss.

As with most great memes in the Year of our Lord 2018, The Office’s Michael Scott made an appearance, as did the ubiquitous “white guy blinking” GIF. In one particularly brutal dunk on the King, LeBron was photoshopped into a Celtics jersey in a Players’ Tribune parody — captioned “My Next Chapter,” a riff on Kevin Durant’s infamous announcement. And the memes didn’t stop there.

One tweet from beIN SPORTS featured “this is fine dog” with the caption: “We check in with the @cavs Tyronn Lue at the half.” Yikes.

Following the defeat, James’s post-game interview spurred a social media reaction of its own. First, the forward claimed he had “zero” concern about the loss and the series overall.

“I have zero level of concern at this stage,” James said. “I didn’t go to college, so it’s not March Madness. You know, you get better throughout the series. You see ways you can get better throughout the series.”

“[LeBron]’s ‘zero level of concern’ statement just means ‘i ain’t worried bout shit cause the @nba refs will make sure i advance,’” tweeted UntouchableSNO.

“Man, if you’re a Bron and Cavs fan you have to love his confidence. He was asked in his post game presser his level of concern,” jshector wrote. “His response…ZERO.”

The other viral moment: Answering a question about the beginning of the fourth quarter, James paused for a moment and seemed like he was entering a different mental galaxy. He then spat out a detailed recap of every play, in order, like he was reciting playing cards at a memory championship.

The Cavaliers will face off against the Celtics in Game 2 on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Let’s hope they see better luck in the next round.