When LeBron James, the best player in the world, has to leave a Finals game in the fourth quarter because of leg cramps, it opens up the floodgates on Twitter. We already covered Gatorade’s reaction, but here’s what the rest of Twitter had to say about the cramps.
The internet, like the temperature level at AT&T Center last night, would not chill. There was an immediate rush to turn #LeBroning into a meme:
#lebroning pic.twitter.com/RqrpChtsbU
— Jojo Alvarado (@Jalvarado1991_) June 6, 2014
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It was also an opportunity for anyone looking to get themselves noticed with a parody account. Note: please don’t do this, unless you’re a highly skilled professional comedian:
Dog. pic.twitter.com/OQNBhX24kj
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) June 6, 2014
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Former NBA players were getting into the conversation, too. Check out this exchange between Olden Polynice and Nick Van Exel:
“@OldenPolynice1: stop it O
— nick vanexel (@vanexel31) June 6, 2014
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Polynice’s tweet was just the start of Twitter starting to move all the jokes into the “LeBron is a female” territory. You would expect this from a particular crowd on Twitter (and if you do anything this morning, do not run a Twitter search for “cramp stamp”, unless you like terrible jokes), but national media personalities were the ones leading the charge:
Ps. I hope MJ was watching. #midol
— Michelle Beadle (@MichelleDBeadle) June 6, 2014
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I must confess, I have new-found appreciation 4 women who must continue whatever it is they're doing despite suffering f menstrual cramps
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) June 6, 2014
There are times when jokes like this are harmless. But when you have a large audience waiting for you to draw the line on what’s appropriate, this sets the tone for the rest of Twitter to just go crazy.
I’m all for smart, nuanced humor even if it’s about the best player in the world leaving a game on the biggest stage because of cramps. Unfortunately, that’s not the result when LeBron fails and we all just decide to be part of it right away without thinking much about it.
What do you think?
Follow steven lebron on Twitter at @steven_lebron.
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