About

The Jordan Poole Effect or Jordan Poole Baddies refers to a theory and series of memes suggesting that professional basketball player Jordan Poole plays better when there are baddies (meaning attractive women) watching him play. The theory first became the subject of memes in June 2022 after YouTuber courtsideplug posted an edit in which Poole looks at two women in the audience and then scores several baskets, spreading over the following months. As the term spread, people began using it as a general reference to basketball players other than Poole.

Origin

On June 5th, 2022, YouTuber^[1] courtsideplug posted a video edit set to "I Know What You Want" by Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey showing NBA player Jordan Poole looking at some girls in the audience, then proceeding to make several baskets, as if the women inspired him to play better, garnering over 7.3 million views in 10 months (shown below). It was reuploaded by YouTuber^[2] eeZyy the next day, garnering over 1.5 million views in the same rough span of time.

Spread

Memes about Poole playing better when baddies are watching continued to spread over the following months. On June 18th, 2022, Instagram^[3] and YouTube^[4] user clutchpoints posted a video referring to the theory, garnering over 94,000 likes on the former and 73,000 views on the latter in 10 months (shown below).

It's unclear when the term "the Jordan Poole effect" was first used, but it started to become popularized that August. For example, on August 4th, 2022, TikToker^[5] @michael.carrao posted a video describing, "The Jordan Poole effect was on full display last night" where he explains how the effect goes the other way, too and that when Poole is watching WNBA games, the women play better, garnering over 398,000 views in eight months (shown below).

On December 28th, Twitter^[6] user @HaterMuse posted, "Not another one 😭" along with an edit where Poole looks at a woman then scores a basket, garnering over 23,000 likes in four months. The video was reposted to the nbamemesquad Instagram^[7] page that day, garnering over 25,000 likes in the same span of time.

The meme became increasingly popular on TikTok in early 2023, sometimes used in reference to players beyond Poole as a general slang term. On February 7th, 2023, TikToker^[8] @fivestarad posted a Poole Effect edit that gained over 490,000 views in two months. The original sound inspired over 1,400 uses in the same span of time, the most popular making reference to the Jordan Poole effect.

On February 13th, TikToker^[9] @dame.universe posted a skit about the effect, garnering over 2 million views in two months (shown below, left). On March 8th, TikToker^[10] @whysavy posted a video using the term, garnering over 3.5 million views in a month (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References