The meme all-stars were conceived by NBA Humour, a meme community on Facebook. This all-star team consists of the most featured basketball stars in memes throughout the internet. The players that feature in this line-up are a mix of the game's superstars and lesser-known athletes, whom have been involved in situations that have been considered "meme worthy" by basketball fans around the globe. And in fact, a couple of players are simply featured because of their perceived lack of basketball prowess. Together, they comprise an often shifting, hardly ever fixed, cultural actuality wherein the tension between the expectations of a knowledgeable fan group and the commercial imperative of the image consultant, sports administrator and the athlete is played out, with fans attaching contradicting connotations to the celebrated star which they ultimately cannot control. Additionally, these collated texts provide insights into the cultural influence of memes, in which it is increasingly been utilised as a form of visual and textual expression.
Lebron James
Background: 3 x NBA MVP, 8 x NBA All-Star, 1 x NBA Champion, 2 x Olympic Gold Medallist.
Meme Origins:
*"Lebron's fault": Stemmed from comments regarding a comment he made about another player on Twitter. When asked if he would apologise for the comment, he insisted he would not, citing that he was sick of being blamed by fans and the media for incidents that was not his fault. The concept has mutated and spread to convey issues beyond basketball.
"Taking my talents to South Beach": This infamous quote by Lebron James, from the "Decision" interview which he announced he was signing with a new team during a televised special, has taken a life of its own, and has been used to depict similar or appropriate situations.
*"Ringless", "More rings then Lebron": These memes mock Lebron's failure to win a NBA championship during the first 9 seasons of his career. He won a championship in 2012, so the memes have mutated to comparing Lebron with other athletes from all sports who have won more titles than him.
"Choker" , "Missing the 4th quarter": After consecutive years of succumbing to the pressure in the last quarter of important matches.
*"Hairline": His receding hairline.
*"Lebron travelled": Many fans and pundits believe James to be a serious offender of the travelling rule in basketball, in which one walks or runs more then two steps in between the dribbling of the ball.
Brian Scalabrine:
Background: 1x NBA Champion (played zero minutes throughout the 7 game final series),. career fringe player.
Meme Origins:
"White Mamba": A sarcastic take on Kobe Bryant's nickname as the "Black Mamba".
"We need Scalabrine" / "God": With career averages of a modest 3 points per game and 13 minutes per game, Scalabrine has developed a cult status on the internet. His perceived lack of playing time and talent has been constantly used as meme topics, to the point where it has translated to his basketball matches where fans passionately chant and cheer for him.
Kobe Bryant:
Background: 1 x NBA MVP, 14 x NBA All-Star, 5 x NBA Champion, 2 x Olympic Gold Medallist.
Meme Origins:
"Ball Hog": Originated from Bryant's role as the focus of the Los Angeles Lakers offence where he is the primary scorer. Many fans believe, he takes ill-advised shots despite sometimes having team mates in better positions to shoot the ball.
"Trade everyone": It has been widely perceived that Lakers management will explore all options to bring the team a championship, and in years gone past the roster has seen many transformations, but, Bryant's position has always been cemented within the team.
"Rapist": Stemmed from sexual accusations against Bryant in 2003.
Jeremy Lin:
Background: First ever player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent to play in the NBA. Lin also broke the NBA record for highest scoring and assist averages over his first five career starts.
Meme Origins:
"Linsanity": The word Linsanity was used to describe the excitement surrounding Jeremy Lin's meteoric rise. His breakout performances has a generated a host of memes regarding him and replacing words using his surname, such as Linsane (insane), Linning (winning) and Lincredible (incredible)
Asian stereotypes: There have also been numerous memes mocking Lin's Asian heritage, most notably, in the form of racial stereotypes such as, the perception of Asians being “nerdy”, their "bad" driving abilities and their supposed lack of athletic talent.
Chris Bosh
Background: 7 x NBA All-Star, 1 x NBA Champion, 1 x Olympic Gold Medallist
Meme Origins:
"Ostrich": The ostrich meme mocks Chris Bosh's facial features by comparing his face to that of an ostrich.
"Dinosaur": Is a mutation of the ostrich comparison.
Luke Walton
Background: 2 x NBA Champion, career fringe player.
Meme Origin:
"Benchwarmer": Like Scalabrine, Walton's career averages of 17 minutes and 4 points per game is a stat line that not many basketball fans will remember. Walton predominately saw playing time towards the end of matches with his team holding unbeatable leads. Luke Walton memes predominately mocks the notion that he sits on the Lakers bench more then he does competing on the basketball court.
On the surface, all of the memes were mocking the players but perhaps it also demonstrates the notion that memes convey how fans really perceive particular stars. Whilst players like Bryant and James are marketed in mass media as role models and all-time greats of the game, and granted, they are perhaps two of the greatest players of our generation next to Michael Jordan, the memes paint them in a not-so flattering manner. More significantly, these are not one-offs but rather, thousands of memes conveying the same or similar messages. Conversely, unlikely heroes and meteoric risers such as Brian Scalabrine and Jeremy Lin has received coverage and support normally reserved for the more celebrated players, that would eventually transcend to assist in moulding their star images in the real world.
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