Damon Jones has some experience being dunked on by a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, Thursday was a new experience for the Cavs assistant coach, who reportedly had a bowl of soup thrown at him by JR Smith, who was subsequently suspended for the Cavs' loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
For the subset of social media known as "Basketball Twitter," the story was a perfect storm: a player with a colorful off-the-court past getting suspended for reasons straight out of a middle school cafeteria. Twitter users went into overdrive faster than ... well, than you can heat up a bowl of soup.
There were bad soup puns:
Today proves that the Cavs are really a dominant NBA Souperteam.
— Steve Braband (@stevebraband) March 2, 2018
Not surprising JR tossed a bowl, considering he wore the Soupreme shooting sleeve.
— Taco Trey Kerby (@treykerby) March 2, 2018
JR Smith out here playing bisque-it ball
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) March 2, 2018
*JR Smith eating bowl of menudo, Damon Jones walks by*
— Steve McPherson (@steventurous) March 2, 2018
Jones: Ha ha, you trying to get the tripe?
JR: https://t.co/PnE4Ac6yeg
There were the requisite pop-culture references:
How dare JR Smith wasting a bowl of God's greatest creation smh #JRsmith #soupgate pic.twitter.com/JhV7ccZoPF
— Andrew García (@agarcia45_) March 2, 2018
Catching up on this morning's NBA news pic.twitter.com/mGQyF763lI
— Jackson Martin (@JogMartin) March 2, 2018
wait so J.R. got suspended for throwing a bowl of soup?! pic.twitter.com/vaN0cODuCj
— Michael Smith (@michaelsmith) March 2, 2018
And, of course, there were Photoshops:
— Rad (@2011LilWayne) March 2, 2018
— COOKIES 🍪🏀 (@CookiesHoops) March 2, 2018
We've unearthed footage of The Great Soup Incident of 2018. pic.twitter.com/ARNRjAVnon
— ESPN (@espn) March 2, 2018
There are still so many questions unanswered, especially after Smith declined to speak with the media at Cavs practice Friday (he's expected to address the media at shootaround Saturday). Was the entire bowl thrown, or just its contents? Was it really a "throw," or was the soup more "poured" on Jones? Where did Smith even get soup at shootaround? And, most important, what kind of soup was it?
Then there's The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, asking the question no one else will.
#poll Which is a funnier sentence: J.R. Smith would like to know if you're trying to get the pipe or J.R. Smith was suspended for throwing soup at Damon Jones? -Garemy
— Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) March 2, 2018
