Here's What the Drive-By Dunk Challenge Is and Why It's the Best Viral Trend in Years

The Drive-By Dunk Challenge is the best viral trend we've seen in years. Here's everything you need to know about it.

Let's be frankโ€”most viral "challenges" that sweep through your Instagram and Twitter feeds are incredibly lame. Charitable benefits aside, the #IceBucketChallengeย completely derailed timelines for an entire summer, and theย #MannequinChallengeย was really only good because of its loose affiliation with Rae Sremmurd's "Black Beatles."

The underlying problem with calling these things a "challenge" is that anyone can dump a gigantic bucket of ice water on their heads orย strike a frozen pose for 10 seconds. Though that ease is part of what helped the trends go viral, it also takes some of the luster out of participatingย to begin with.

Finally, it appears we have a worthwhile challenge for your timeline to participate in. The #DriveByDunkChallenge is growing by the day, with more and more stars getting involved in the activity. But those of you who haven't seen it pop up yet probably have a couple important questionsโ€”what is it, and how do I participate? Let's take a closer look.

The challenge

Participating in the drive-by challenge is fairly simple. You need the following list of ingredients to make the #DriveByDunkChallengeย happen:

  • A basketball
  • A car
  • A cameraman
  • A basketball hoop in someone else's driveway

One of the people in the car (most often the driver) is tasked with finding a stranger's basketball net as they pass through different neighborhoods. Once they find a suitable location, the potential dunker hops out of the car with one goal in mind: dunk the shit out of the ball on this unsuspecting basket, and make sure your accomplice records the act for you.

For a textbook example of how to pull off the feat, check out this video, which features both a nasty throw-down and a hilarious reaction from the little kids subjected to the dunk violence.

The origin

The Instagram user you see dunking in the example above, who goes by the name of "t.currie," is widely credited with sparking the recent trend. In a post he dropped on his IG page, an accomplice filmed him dunking on several different baskets, each sequence featuring its own unique style.

However, the real OG's of the challenge may be Brooks D. Babineaux and Randall Babineaux, the latter of whom filmed himself attacking Brooks' rim for reasons unbeknownst to the viewer. Though they did not use the same hashtagย in the original Instagram video, opting for #DriveByDunking instead, the influence is clear even if the dunk itself is less impressive.

That video from Babineaux was uploaded on June 27, 2016, long before the challenge really got going this summer. Though you can thank t.currie for sparking a new wave and level of interest in the challenge, you have to respect the likely originators.

The participants

Once the challenge started to gain some publicity in the basketball community, a lot of well-known personalities decided they couldn't sit this one out. One of the first big names to enter the fray was Pelicans big man Anthony Davis, who pulled up to a driveway and dunked on a rim that may not have been taller than he is.

Following Davis' lead, other young players got in the mix, including Boston's Jaylen Brown and Sacramento rookie De'Aaron Fox, the former of whom left a pair of bystanders confused when he nearly brought down their basket with a dunk.

Not to be left behind, Kentucky coach John Calipariย decided he would get involved with the challenge after a long driving trip. Not to be a dunk snob, but this looks a bit like cheatingโ€”judging by the "Wildcats" logo running down the basket's support, that's probably his own driveway.

Dinner w/the VP last night & watched quadruple OT tonight. D.C. to Atlanta to Dallas to Lex. Need to finish it w/ the #DriveByDunkChallenge! pic.twitter.com/qqnrn9Msy2

And if you have some room in your heart for a little Celtics schadenfreude, Boston GM Danny Aingeย decided he should share a short clip of him getting yammed on by his son, tacking on the hashtagย despite it just being a video of some driveway basketball.

Baptism from my freshly returned missionary๐Ÿ™ˆ@UncleCR3W #drivebydunkchallenge pic.twitter.com/jikwnCxyZg

But hey, as the resident Boston hater around these parts, you won't hear any complaints from me about Aingeย voluntarily sharing a video of him getting baptized.

The best entries

Not all participation in the challenge should be treated equally, and there have been some especially inspired dunks offered up by the basketball community. Putting their own spin on the challenge, Shareef O'Neal (yes, the son of Shaq) walked up to a local court with a friend, having to fly past a would-be blocker to throw down an alley-oop off the backboard.

Anthony Adams, a former defensive tackle who spent time with the Chicago Bears, added a comedic element to his dunk, rocking some Rec Specs and faking some ridiculous post moves before ultimately flushing the ball.

And in one of the best, most dangerous father-child bonding moments of all-time, Gilbert Arenas allowed his children to stand on top of his moving car in order to get throw a couple dunks down. I don't know whether to applaud or report him to CPS.

The biggest fails

Not everyone is cut out for the #DriveByDunkChallenge. Sometimes, in fact, it's the equipment that is unprepared to be dunked on, as you can see in the below video, which probably left an unsuspecting resident pretty pissed off. I laughed pretty hard at this, but I'm also a terrible person.

#DriveByDunkChallenge
Gone Wrong ๐Ÿ˜ณ Broke Their Hoop ๐Ÿค•๐Ÿ’€ pic.twitter.com/8FX4TsAPsj

What's worse than failing to dunk the ball? Failing to dunk the ball after using the wall for a boost, andย thenย getting chased out of the yard by the family's angry dog. Good luck getting your basketball back!

And of course, it wouldn't be a dunk fail list without showcasing a guy who never even get off the ground.

#DriveByDunkChallenge #fail #SCtop10 @WORLDSTAR @SportsCenter @BleacherReport ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚ pic.twitter.com/DE9WGNnLve

Always know your limitations, kids.ย 

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