I'm Trying Jennifer

About

I'm Trying Jennifer is a quote by Portland Trail Blazers player C.J. McCollum in response to a critical tweet of him saying "win a playoff game, then talk." The quote became a meme among NBA fans and ultimately the meme came full circle when McCollum met Jennifer as the Trail Blazers played the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Western Conference Finals.

Origin

On August 15th, 2019, C.J. McCollum responded to a post bringing up an old quote of his where he criticized players for joining the Golden State Warriors in order to "chase rings" (meaning join the best team to win a championship) by saying "stop making me look like a scorn man sheesh." Twitter user @ChocDelight1980 responded "Win a playoff game, then talk," to which McCollum responded "I'm trying Jennifer."^[1] The last tweet gained over 17,000 retweets and 57,000 likes (shown below).

Spread

The tweet was instantly joked about by NBA fans. User @netw3rk posted screenshots of the exchange, gaining over 620 retweets and 4,200 likes (shown below, left). @SBNation joked about the tweet with a Bibble Singing picture, gaining over 160 likes (shown below, right). Jokes about the exchange were covered by USA Today^[2] and The Score.^[3]

The following season, after the Blazers won a playoff game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a reporter asked McCollum if he had any words for Jennifer. He said no, and that he "appreciates" her.

Meeting with Jennifer

Prior to Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals, Rachel Nichols introduced McCollum to "Jennifer." McCollum responded "Thank you" to Jennifer in person.

The moment was covered by Washington Post,^[4] USA Today,^[5] and Yahoo Sports.^[6]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References