You may recall 2013 to be the apex of internet content. That’s because it was the summer when a bunch of teens tried to outdo one another with a series of pool dunks. Increasingly elaborate and absurd, teens would jump through all sorts of hoops (literally and figuratively) before diving into a body of water and slamming a ball through a basket to wow the web.
Four years later, a new crop of teens is here with another viral challenge that is doing its damnest to usurp pool dunks as the king of viral teen dunking content. And it’s pretty damn good.
It’s the #DriveByDunkChallenge, and while it’s terrorizing unsuspecting basketball hoops, it’s about as wholesome as a new meme can be: You drive through a neighborhood with a basketball on your lap and when you see an unsuspecting hoop, you get out of the car and go dunk on it. Extra points for the hoop being really far away. It’s downright wonderful.
Here are 12 jams in a row.
#DriveByDunkChallenge w/ @dakotahower04, beginning on snap @kalen40 pic.twitter.com/GLRMaIfNOe
— Kalen Jr (@kalenhowell) July 20, 2017
Here’s another tremendous compilation for the Drive By Dunk challenge.
The #DriveByDunkChallenge with @cedrickjohansen @fishergrayson pic.twitter.com/5fKcHUkV4W
— Ryan Radke (@RyanRadke5) July 20, 2017
It’s pretty much the only thing on Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram right now.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWx2-Iel7Z1
Even NBA superstars are getting in the mix. Here’s Anthony Davis.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWyy4YpFB1I/?tagged=drivebydunkchallenge
Think of it as egging someone’s house without any of the mess. You get to assert dominance over a stranger’s property, without committing an act of vandalism. The trend just cropped two days ago, when Tyler Currie posted a complication dunk video with him saying, “Bitch, I’ll dunk on your court.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWs8DghFqR0/?taken-by=t.currie
Numerous outlets picked up the video and suddenly everyone was filming themselves.
Currie told the Daily Dot that he simply was driving down a street with a lot of courts on it and decided to hop out. Going viral was nothing new for him, as he’d starred in some videos before. But he’s excited everyone’s trying this, even if most of the dunks are going down on six-foot hoops.
“I like people trying no matter how talented they are,” he said.
Heck, it’s even made its way to children.
Mad hops. #DriveByDunkChallenge pic.twitter.com/8iJ4ZpGLGH
— Tyler Welch (@ty_welch) July 19, 2017
So are wholesome videos the new teen trend? Well, at least for a few more weeks, until everyone gets tired of this. But never estimate how well teens iterate.
“More trends to come!!!” said Currie. We can’t wait.