Now Why Is That?

About

Now Why Is That? is a catchphrase uttered by NBA basketball analyst Brian Windhorst in mid-2022 when he was on ESPN's talk show First Take. After accurately predicting trades between the Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets on-air regarding Kevin Durant's off-season moves, Windhorst's segment became an exploitable image macro template used to humorously showcases contradictions within situations, settings and personality traits on Twitter.

Origin

On July 1st, 2022, Windhorst appeared on ESPN's talk show First Take to discuss "what's going on in Utah?" related to the off-season moves the Utah Jazz was making. He highlighted a "very strange trade" between the Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets who traded Royce O'Neale for a future first-round draft pick.

At the 0:40-second mark (shown below), the camera is isolated on Windhorst who becomes more expressive with his hands and fingers, pointing them in many directions as he outlined what he believed the trade alluded to. Ultimately, it alluded to what team Kevin Durant would move to by the end of 2022. Over the course of seven days, the video received roughly 887,400 views (shown below).

Also on July 1st, Twitter^[1] user StevenCheah posted the aforementioned clip of Windhorst to Twitter, claiming that, "Brian Windhorst just ran the First Take desk in circles. They were hanging on his every word for 2+ minutes." The clip received roughly 5.8 million views and 80,500 likes in four days (shown below).

Brian Windhorst just ran the First Take desk in circles. They were hanging on his every word for 2+ minutes 😂😂. Absolute masterclass. pic.twitter.com/Q1vn6mD9iz

— Commissioner Cheah (@StevenCheah) July 1, 2022

The mass engagement of the aforementioned tweet was ultimately inspired by Adrian Wojnarowski announcing via a tweet^[2] posted later on July 1st that claimed Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert had been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. This announcement was accurately foreshadowed by Windhorst in his First Take appearance.

On July 2nd, 2022, Twitter^[3] user evanempdx captioned an image macro of Windhorst pointing both of his fingers up with, "'Evan says he’s only going to have one drink. / But he told the bartender to leave his card open. / Now why is that?'" The tweet received roughly 33,700 likes in one week (shown below).

Spread

After evanempdx's tweet went viral on July 2nd, more Twitter users started copying his format in their own memetic tweets. For instance, on July 2nd, Twitter^[4] user AlexanderWatt posted a tweet (since deleted) that used the format to make a joke about why hot dogs come in packs of 10 but hot dog buns come in packs of eight, earning over 100 likes in three days (shown below, left). On July 3rd, 2022, Twitter^[5] user JimMWeber made a joke about his friend loving college football but having his wedding in the fall, earning roughly 49,900 likes in one week (shown below, right).

The template continued to be used by Twitter users as the image macro of Windhorst pointing his fingers became increasingly exploited. For instance, on July 4th, 2022, the verified Twitter^[6] account anus referenced Violet Beauregarde from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory turning purple in the book/movie. Over the course of three days, the tweet received roughly 3,500 likes (shown below, left).

Also, verified Twitter accounts started using the format, like a tweet^[7] posted on July 2nd by the official account of the Detroit Tigers MLB team that earned roughly 9,700 likes in six days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References