CJ McCollum Goes Viral with “I’m Trying Jennifer” Tweet

Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum went viral on Twitter today, responding to a heckler who told him to “win a playoff game” before he spoke against other NBA stars. The fracas started with a TV interview in China, wherein McCollum bashed super teams (notably the Golden State Warriors) and players who join them. That subject drew heat enough before Twitter user Jennifer Williams let fly with this:

Then McCollum responded with words that will go down in history:

28,000 likes later, the sweet-scoring guard had a hit on his hands.

The response follows the pattern of the famous “Karen” meme, wherein a relatively generic Baby Boomer/Gen X name becomes a substitute for out-of-touch self-absorption.

So far, Ms. Williams seems to have responded positively, retweeting several national reports and engaging with McCollum.

The chances of the response getting out of hand, as often happens when athletes engage “normal” folks critically on social media, seem high. Hopefully everyone takes it in the spirit it was meant and Twitter doesn’t end up piling on Williams.