Image via Complex Original
Sadly, the Internet and the concept of a meme wasn’t invented until very recently, so the possible meme goldmines that are Muhammad Ali and Deion Sanders will go down as technology’s missed opportunities. There’s no sense in wondering about the could’ves and what-ifs; there’s been plenty to behold when it comes to the Internet’s cheapest form of humor.
That’s not cheap as in wack, but rather in terms of accessibility. With Impact font and online Meme Generators for the Photoshop-impaired, transforming athletic faux pas and various struggles into pieces of comedy is easy for millions of sports fans. Sure, a lot of them are corny while others come from folks who’re just trying to validate their lives with the failures of others. There are many that stick, however, and a lot of them are because how truly hilarious the source material is.
For example, how you gon’ (allegedly) tell an opposing player his wife tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios? Was he being extra imaginative in pregame warm-ups and thought, “Aha! I got some shit for him!” The accessibility of memes expands those possibilities of hilarity.
And here are the best of them. From Smokin' Jay Cutler and DeAndre Jordan catching bodies to McKayla Maroney, here are The 25 Best Athlete Memes of All Time.
25. #SochiProblems
Year: 2014
Origin: Sochi, Russia had a lot of things wrong when the country hosted the Olympics.
Unfortunately, the Sochi Olympics problems ran so deep that even Steven Seagal couldn't solve it. Not the insect in that cup of honey. Not the door that refused to open. Not the ridiculously tropical conditions to be holding a Winter Olympics in. Not how Jamaica's bobsledding team almost couldn't finance a trip to the Olympics. It was a horror.
24. Good Job, Good Effort
Year: 2012
Origin: A young Heat fan outshines all the cynicism surrounding the Heat-Celtics 2012 Conference Finals with a simple compliment.
The poor kid doesn't know that such a compliment would mean nothing against the vitriol and slander the Heat would've faced had they dropped the series against the Celtics. But God bless his innocence, which will slowly crumble in a few years.
23. LeBron James' Hairline Is Far Back
Year: 2012
Origin: LeBron James Hairline is at the wrong location.
Every criticism the everyman can make against James is moot. He makes millions of more dollars, generally lives better, has the rare honor of being the best at what he does, and can body dudes if they get out of line if he absolutely must. But he doesn't have a proper hairline. And so we laugh, thusly making us sleep better at night with our durags tied snuggly against the wave grease patches on our freshly cut caesars.
22. The Manning Face
Year: N/A
Origin: Eli Manning's general doofiness and Peyton's association.
Eli's constant childish bewilderment is what popularized the Manning Face despite his older brother's legendary status. After Eli's terrible season got cut short when the Giants missed the playoffs, Peyton continued the tradition by suffering a legendary beat down from the Legion of Boom at the Super Bowl. Stephen A. Smith said the following morning that the Broncos got punked, and Manning certainly looked like it.
21. Javale McGee's Beautiful Mind
Year: 2012
Origin: Javale McGee's running list of fails.
If you're honestly questioning the humor of this meme, look no further than when McGee—a 7-footer—tried to do a dunk from the free throw line. It gets to a point where you stop scolding McGee for having such low IQ and start accepting the stupidity and endearingly say, "Oh Javale, you knucklehead you!"
20. Kevin Garnett (Allegedly) Says What LaLa Anthony Tastes Like
Year: 2013
Origin: Garnett allegedly compares Anthony's wife to breakfast cereal on Jan. 7, 2013.
Garnett making the Honey Nut Cheerios comment wasn't that farfetched, because this was the same man who reportedly wished Tim Duncan a happy Mother's Day on-court (Duncan's mother died when he was a teenager). Although Garnett denied he saying the Honey Nut Cheerios comment about LaLa Anthony, Carmelo was very pissed at him. He even tried to press Garnett after the game.
19. NFL Replacement Referees Are the Worst
Year: 2012
Origin: NFL Referees are on lockout to begin the 2012 season. Replacement referees take their place. Hilarity ensues.
Ever complained about something only to have someone else snidely say, "You really think you can do better?" The replacement refs' stint was one of those cases where you said, "Well, actually I can." Look no further than the touchception.
18. Eli Manning Looks at Stuff
Year: 2012
Origin: Eli Manning sees his apartment lobby flooded after Hurricane Sandy.
One of the only good things to come out of Hurricane Sandy was Manning walking in on an apartment lobby only to behold what havoc the storm has caused. It's hard to put a finger on just what makes this moment so great. Perhaps it's the innocence of Manning's reaction, which is tinted with all the pensiveness of a Winnie the Pooh "Oh, Bother." There's the sense that after capturing this image, Manning probably went somewhere (some place dry presumably) to play ultimate Frisbee with light-up Sketchers or something.
17. Carmelo Anthony Is Sick of This
Year: 2013
Origin: Carmelo Anthony could not deal with the Knicks getting washed by the Thunder on Christmas Day.
Carmelo Anthony's reaction to the Thunder Christmas day whooping as he sat out with an ankle injury is pretty much the expression that captures the Knicks' 2013-14 season. And even that turned into a joke thanks toDeadspin. Damn.
16. Chris Bosh the Dinosaur
Year: 2010
Origin: Chris Bosh is a super friendly, super awkward dinosaur.
You gotta give it to Bosh for making that change from constant mascot to reliable contributor. This will forever be funny.
15. Mark Sanchez Isn't a Great Quarterback
Year: 2011
Origin: Various transgressions, especially the butt fumble.
When your sibling team is winning championships and your starting quarterback makes a completion a more arduous task than it actually is, you start to come up with some really mean stuff to say about him. Geno Smith had his own butt fumble, but at least you could halfway defend him and say he's a rookie who doesn't know behind-the-back crossovers don't quite work in the NFL. Smith's blunder doesn't have its own Wikipedia page either.
14. Michael Jordan Post-Career Life Hasn't Been Going Smooth
Year: 2011
Origin: Kwame Brown, the Bobcats, and Miley Cyrus have left His Airness open to slander.
You may have heard, but Jordan was actually very good at basketball. He's a terrible dresser who owns a subpar franchise (not in the 2013-14 Eastern conference tho!), however. Hypebeasts are still going to buy the shoes though. *cues the soundtrack*
13. Kobe Bryant Isn't Familiar With the Concept of Passing the Ball
Year: N/A
Origin: The Black Mamba being the Black Mamba (and being passing-averse)
The average Kobe Bryant fan is going to say something like, "LOOK WHO GOT FIVE RINGS DOE," in response to a lot of critique. Bryant may point to that, too, if someone got on him about passing. If the Kobe System works without assists, why fix it?
12. Brian Scalabrine the God
Year: N/A
Origin: Being the White Mamba
The hype around Scalabrine was always more facetious than genuine admiration. Do you know a kid who wants to be like Scalabrine when he grows up? But whether it's his glowing red hair or generally awkward demeanor, this journeyman just would not fade away. Plus Scalabrine is actually a legend; he has more championship rings than Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and Allen Iverson combined.
11. Richard Sherman as WWE Heel
Year: 2013
Origin: Richard Sherman barks on Michael Crabtree following NFC Conference Championship victory.
Unlike WWE promos, Sherman is really that guy in real life. He actually is the best cornerback in the NFL who helped make a clutch play to clinch the NFC Championship Game. He even has the Super Bowl ring to show for it. But Sherman actually did apologize for his comments to bring us back from the WWE mentality. The fallout actually raised an interesting conversation on race and the concept of black masculinity, which is ultimately more interesting than the heel shtick.
10. Aaron Hernandez Murders (As in People, Not as in, "He's Killing It on the Field")
Year: 2013
Origin: Aaron Hernandez is arrested on murder charges in June.
Murder charges are actually no joke, so it falls a bit on the morbid side with the consequent memes joking with it as if to say, "That darn Hernandez!" The dark sitcom continues as the (former) tight end keeps getting himself into various shenanigans.
9. Derrick Rose Is Fragile
Year: 2012
Origin: Derrick Rose tears his ACL in the 2012 Playoffs and returns in 2013 only to tear his meniscus.
Derrick Rose was supposed to be the chosen one! It's very possible the Bulls would've had a chip (especially this year) if he continued to grow and actually play. Sadly, the past two years have seen him in a suit more than a uniform. The Internet turned right on the former MVP because of it.
8. Grandmama Spike Lee Will Whoop Yo' Behind
Year: 2014
Origin: Spike Lee is fed up with the Knicks during another January loss.
Lee has lived to see the John Starks screw-up, the Michael Jordan ownage, the NBA Finals loss of 1999, and the perennial mediocrity of the aughts. But this shit? This shit right here? This is too much. Now Lee has to bring the belt pon' di backside.
7. McKayla Maroney Isn't Impressed
Year: 2012
Origin: McKayla Maroney wins silver medal at 2012 Olympics and becomes displeased upon realizing second is the first one to lose.
Maroney was about six years old when Nelly's "#1" dropped, but she definitely was old enough to comprehend the "second being the first to lose" logic by the time Kanye West's "Power (Remix)" dropped. And boy did she take that philosophy to heart, which is evident in this reaction to "winning" the silver medal.
The noise surrounding the moment is pretty odd though. You spend years training to be the best in the world only to achieve fame with a seconds' long reaction.
6. Smokin' Jay Cutler
Year: 2012
Origin: Jay Cutler's general apathy.
This meme could've very well been Colin Kaepernick or Russell Wilson if they didn't have their postseason success to hold on to. The term "cool" is most often correlated to success. Cutler errs toward apathy because he doesn't have that type of success, and what's better to symbolize that than a stick that hints at apathy toward one's own health?
It just so happens that Cutler naturally looks like he smokes cancer sticks at times, even though he doesn't smoke.
5. Manti Te'o's Bae Doesn't Exist
Year: 2013
Origin: Lennay Kekua doesn't exist, which means Manti Te'o never even got to first base with her.
It's not every year you see a Heisman candidate get catfished. Te'o had dedicated his final Notre Dame season to deceased girlfriend Lennay Kekua, who reportedly died of leukemia. The problem here is that Kekua didn't actually have leukemia—imaginary people don't get cancer. Although Te'o looked like a legit victim, this combined with a poor performance at that year's National Championship gave him a big hit to his reputation.
It wasn't too big of a hit for him not to get drafted to the NFL though.
4. R.I.P Jason Terry
Year: 2013
Origin: LeBron James happened...
What made this even crazier was that Terry was talking shit about the Heat right before this moment. He said he wasn't too impressed by Miami's ongoing 27-game winning streak. James just took it upon himself to impress him. And shut him up. For good.
3. Adrien Broner Gets Beat
Year: 2013
Origin: Broner gets dominated by Marcos Maidana in his first loss on Dec. 15.
People were just waiting for this moment. Not him just losing, but also getting humbled. After getting filmed eating out a stripper and throwing money in the toilet, Broner finally got his due when Marcos Maidana knocked him down twice and defeated him by unanimous decision.
The Internet went to work immediately. It was as if it made meme templates specifically for this moment.
2. Manny Pacquiao Gets Knocked Out
Year: 2012
Origin: Juan Manuel Marquez's right cross puts Pacquiao to sleep on Dec. 8, 2012.
It's not like people wanted to see Pacquiao get knocked out the way he did against Marquez. But it was insanely shocking to see it all happen, including the initial drop and how peaceful Pac-Man looked while he slept.
1. Brandon Knight Dies
Year: 2013
Origin: DeAndre Jordan messes up Brandon Knight's life on March 11, 2013.
Knight's career sadly took a bit of a downtown afterward as he ended up on the league-worst Milwaukee Bucks this season. Jordan pretty much turned Knight from a promising talent to very funny joke fodder.
Scarface is probably right about watching a man die being a sorrowful thing to see, but Knight was an exception.