The Heat released their Harlem Shake video yesterday, and as much as we'd like to call this a dead meme, it's racked up 2.3 million views in under a day. It's watchable as far as these go because of who's in it: where else but in your Stygian nightmares can you see Chris Andersen flapping towards you, dead eyes baring your soul. LeBron, the shirtless king. Mario Chalmers as Mario. Multiple Rey Mysterios and Jabbawockeez. Dwyane Wade coming out as a furry.
It would all be tolerable, which makes for a roaring success for Harlem Shakes, if not for ESPN deciding to add "viral videos" to the list of sports news you need to start the day. This morning's SportsCenter played the video in full ("this is as good as it gets," an anchor exclaims), and even took the time to explain the entire concept. Just what is this Harlem Shake all the kids and NBA champions are doing these days? (Screengrab via Rembert.)
Christ. That's magnificent, in an I-don't-want-to-live-on-this-planet-anymore sort of way. "Starts with 1 person dancing." "Maman died today."
Here's some of the coverage from the 11 a.m. EST SportsCenter:
The full-platform blitz continued online, with a SportsNation "conversation" on whether the Harlem Shake is played out. There's a wire report on the video. And even the ESPN stats desk got in on the action, with this helpful factoid:
While the 208,000 "Harlem Shake" videos on YouTube is more than the 162,000 "Call Me Maybe" videos, it's still less than the 435,000 "Gangnam Style" videos.
Here's a fun fact: the Heat doing the Harlem Shake got more SportsCenter coverage than the NHL.