From a young darts player from the north of England to a 58-year-old returning world champion, sports has a special ability to grab our attention and then hold it. The best moments, those that stick with us forever, come from an emotional place of awe and wonder. They capture a moment that, whether it’s a triumph or a defeat, makes the human experience feel bigger than any one individual can fully encompass.
These are the kinds of moments that make sports great, and this year has been no exception. We’ve seen Olympic athletes – from “pommel horse guy” to a woman who lost her virginity to a man who broke a leg on his way up to the top of a mountain – dominate social media, and there has been no shortage of head-scratching moments in the regular season.
There is a unique synergy that exists between NBA basketball and social media, and it’s the one that allows players to become avatars. It’s how we know you’re a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fan or a Joel Embiid apologist, because of the shorthand that has been put upon their names. It’s also how the NBA can turn a player into a symbol of doom and gloom or an icon for utter jubilation.
That’s why it’s so hard to select just five viral sports moments from this past season – and even harder to rank them in order of ubiquity. But we’ve tried our hardest to pick the most important ones that shook up the world.