The NBA is back, which means NBA Twitter is also back. On Tuesday night, the regular season opened up with the defending world champion Toronto Raptors receiving their rings and hanging the championship banner before taking on the New Orleans Pelicans.
It took overtime, but the Raptors got the job done and beat the Pelicans, 130-122.
Over at the Staples Center, defending NBA champion Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers took on LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Leonard and company came out on top, beating the Lakers, 112-102.
But what really matters are not the scores from opening nights. It's all about the jokes and memes. Here are some of the best Twitter reactions from the first night of the 2019-2020 NBA season:
we only post @kingjames dancing videos on special occasions #NBABACK 💃💃🏀🏀 pic.twitter.com/6bqHSqu1DT
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) October 23, 2019
Leonard gave a pregame speech and, of course, it resulted in yet another Kawhi meme. It was the "hey, hey, hey" heard 'round the NBA world.
.@Lakers pic.twitter.com/Po1Qj4jWvT
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 23, 2019
Bet yall didnt know Kawhi was in a music video pic.twitter.com/xKyPbTuxrG
— 🅱️anny👍 (@WhiteSoxRants) October 23, 2019
Clippers forward Paul George took the saying, "When in doubt, overdress," very seriously last night.
Paul George showed up like pic.twitter.com/KU1hFtZaGh
— Mickstape (@MickstapeShow) October 23, 2019
People made a lot of comparisons, saying he looked like he was off to prom, a fancy dinner or maybe was a part time limo driver. Maybe he was just the best man at a wedding somewhere and had to race to the Staples Center with no time to change.
Paul George wearing a tux on opening night 😂 pic.twitter.com/wcl2U9g9ze
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) October 23, 2019
There really is a SpongeBob meme for everything, even other memes.
Paul George on the bench. pic.twitter.com/tqhdF5VL5z
— raf (@RafeeOhDamn) October 23, 2019
Danny Green had the most points ever in a Lakers debut.
DANNY GREEN pic.twitter.com/6g5PGN1G1f
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) October 23, 2019
People were not impressed with James' 18-point performance last night.
Lebron James vs Clippers last night: pic.twitter.com/2at0klzUGv
— Supersonico (@supersonico1986) October 23, 2019
Inside the L.A. arena, it was clearly a Lakers-heavy crowd. The Clippers were technically the home team, but it is still a Lakers city.
Kawhi Leonard getting booed in front of a “home” crowd in his first regular season game as a Clipper is HIGH comedy.
— Ryan Phillips (@RumorsandRants) October 23, 2019
Oh, and it seems Lakers fans don't love Leonard.
Clippers starting intros, ending with Kawhi’s first intro as a Clipper at Staples pic.twitter.com/BDdP4Lzc1P
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) October 23, 2019
The season has only just begun, but NBA Twitter is in midseason form. Here's to many more months of memes, reactions and basketball content.