The NBA fanbase loves only two things they love as much as basketball, trash-talking and memes. Jokes at the expense of players that underperform, especially stars, are all over social media platforms, with fans getting into heated arguments in the comments over some truly ridiculous jokes. And certain players are often targeted a lot more than others. Chris Paul is the latest example of a big NBA star receiving a lot of slander for their performances.
One of the players on the receiving end of some of the most viral memes is James Harden. His well-known affinity for clubbing and partying was overlooked when he was playing at an MVP-level in Houston, but his recent dip in form following his injury struggles and the poor performance in Philadelphia’s 2nd round exit this season has seen the slander grow quite a bit.
The running joke in the NBA universe when teams get knocked out is that players will then go to Cancun on vacation, and with Harden having been eliminated, one particular meme has gone viral. A fan shared a photo of former wrestler and strongman Mark Henry, implying that Harden would look like that after two months in Cancun.
James Harden after 2 months in Cancun pic.twitter.com/f3rcwTin42
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) May 15, 2022
Harden has received some criticism in recent seasons for being out of shape and gaining some weight, and several fans found this meme quite funny for that reason, although some did defend Harden as well:
“Y’all are so wild for this.”
“This disrespectful cuz when was Mark actually outta shape?”
“Nahh, I’m dead. Y’all going to hell for this.”
“Hahahaha, Twitter don’t play around, man.”
“Harden better stay away from them clubs this summer.”
“I actually laughed at this out loud.”
“That’s me after 3 days off work.”
“Harden gonna come back next season cook your favorite team for this.”
“You guys aren’t ready for Harden’s big comeback.”
“Y’all gotta lay off James bruh.”
“Why you guys tryna drag Mark Henry into this mess, leave this legend out of it.”
“Why y’all do my man Mark Henry dirty like this?”
If there is one thing that the NBA has taught everyone, it’s that it never pays to make fun of the greatest players too early. While James Harden may not be the same player he once was, he’s far from being too old to play at an elite level, and a lot of these fans might just regret clowning on the Beard if he comes back ready to ball out next season.
