Memes Rule Everything Around Me: Kawhi Leonard "What It Do, Baby," Upset Courtside Drake & More
"What it do, babyyy?"
Wow. In what is arguably the first time in Memes Rule Everything Around Me history, a certain person has back-to-back top memes. Yes, I'm talking about Drake, Canada's beloved pop star who also topped last month's roundup of memes with his "We created this speech."
It's ironic that that meme, as well as the one being highlighted in this roundup, both came about during this year's NBA Finals when the Toronto Raptors faced off against the Golden State Warriors and won. But before we get ahead ourselves, let's acknowledge the meme that has currently taken over social media — Kawhi Leonard's "What it do, baby?"
Although Leonard has described himself as a "fun guy," he often comes across as unenthused when he's not on the court — and this meme is a testament to that. Fellow Raptor Serge Ibaka took the original video where the meme came from following the team's championship win on Snapchat. It was then reposted on Twitter by user @MSlickk.
Since then, users have cut down the video to just Leonard saying "What it do, baby?" and using the clip as a reaction meme for a range of situations, including dating struggles, ghosting, subscription services taking your money unexpectedly, and rappers who have "baby" in their rap name.
Surely, this same question embodies how Toronto feels about Leonard's unknown future with the city following the championship win. Nothing has been confirmed yet, although there are rumors that he's expected to stay.
So, Kawhi Leonard — what it do, baby?
Prior to Leonard's meme takeover, Spongebob Squarepants had kicked the month off with yet another new, popular meme.
The meme, which is centered around the image of a motionless and wide-eyed Spongebob, stems from the Spongebob episode, "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy." In the episode, Patrick pretends to rob Spongebob, who's dressed up as a damsel in distress. Social media users have since transformed Spongebob into a Nicki Minaj fan, an emo teen, and more, the image used to set up countless online jokes and becoming a popular meme in the process.
The new Spongebob meme is timely, considering the popular Nickelodeon cartoon will be turning 20 next month.
Now, before we get to Drake, it's only right that we also give a shoutout to Marsai Martin, who recreated her iconic meme this past weekend at the BET Awards. When it was announced that the 14-year-old had won the night's Young Stars Award, Martin looked on in shock, her response captured in real time for everyone to see and inevitably meme.
The image was reminiscent of this scene from black-ish, where Martin, portraying Diane Johnson, is making a similar face.
And now...Drake. Last month, he gave us the inescapable "We created this" meme. This month, he gave us a meme that offers an accurate representation of what can only be described as fake disappointment.
The clip, in which an upset Drake is courtside, came from Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Drake's expression was in response to Kevin Durant rupturing his Achilles tendon and being escorted off of the court. It seems that Drake's emotional response to Durant's exit was sincere. Following the game, he took to Instagram and dedicated a post to the Warriors small forward.
"Was tough for any of us to even enjoy that game tonight after seeing this transpire," Drake wrote. "Praying for our brother. That's my only concern tonight is your well being. 'The game needs me' is an understatement when it comes to 35. Please wish the best for this true warrior."
Regardless, social media users transformed the moment into a meme primarily used for situations where someone has to pretend to be shocked or disappointed when, in reality, they aren't. However, there are some captions that do reflect the sincere disappointment Drake may or may not have been expressing.
Well, there you have it. These were the most popular memes for the month of July. And yes, always, we have some honorable mentions.