Richard Jefferson wore a shirt that said ‘flat world champions’ on it because the Cavs are beautiful trolls

*Steps up to microphone*

*Taps it*

*Clears throat*

*Begins screaming*

HELLO, INTERNET, PLEASE STOP WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE DOING, TILT YOUR PHONE OR COMPUTER SO THAT THIS IMAGE IS ROTATED CORRECTLY, AND BEHOLD THE INCREDIBLE SHIRT THAT RICHARD JEFFERSON IS WEARING.

*Takes microphone out of stand, starts walking around the stage causally*

The shirt, folks, says FLAT WORLD CHAMPIONS on it. Now, if you missed the hullabaloo about the shape of the earth during All-Star Weekend, this shirt might not make much sense to you. To recap, briefly: Kyrie Irving said he believes the earth is flat. He later indicated that he doesn’t actually believe the earth is flat (which — I must say — I totally, 100 percent called), but his comments kicked off the best news cycle in at least three years.

*Pauses, takes sip of water, gestures to a PowerPoint slide bearing the picture of Jefferson and a red arrow pointing at his shirt*

The beauty of Richard Jefferson’s shirt, therefore, is not only that it further leans into this fantastic troll job, but that either Jefferson himself or someone in the Cavs organization was like, “You know what? Let’s do this.” And took the time not only to come up with the design but to have it made.

I wish more athletes would mess with the media like this. I can’t think of a recent story that’s made me happier than watching the fallout that came after one of the best basketball players in the country said he believes a very basic scientific fact isn’t true. It was the first time the news made me laugh in what feels like decades. I am, admittedly, somewhat of a troll myself, but I just got such a kick out of watching people believe Kyrie and work themselves up into a tizzy about it. Even Bill Nye the Science Guy chimed in!

*Sits down on stool, clicks through to next slide featuring a flat earth*

So, the fact that Jefferson is keeping this prank going by fully committing to the bit totally rules. I hope this becomes the new blown 3-1 lead. I am praying that this year, instead of “3-1 lead” written on a kick drum at LeBron James’ Halloween party, we’ll see “The earth is flat” inscribed upon the symbols.

*Clicks back through slides to original picture*

I do want to note that I don’t know why the photograph in this tweet isn’t rotated correctly. It’s the kind of tweet your mom would send if your mom were on Twitter, couldn’t figure out how to make the photo go the right way, and you didn’t answer the phone when she called to ask you how to fix it, so she just fired it off anyway.

Which I’m totally here for. I’m here for unrotated pictures as much as I’m here for the earth being flat (which, frankly, it could be) and t-shirts about it. It would behove our world if more athletes embraced Irving’s devilish behavior and spouted conspiracy theories that they probably don’t believe for the sake of screwing with the American public.

*Clicks through to next slide, which is just a picture of me wearing a shirt that says “ARE WE SURE JET FUEL CAN MELT STEEL BEAMS?”*

Anyway, thanks for coming, folks. You can find my full TEDtalk on Richard Jefferson’s shirt at why-would-you-ever-want-to-watch-a-TEDtalk-again-without-being-forced-to dot com, or follow me on Twitter. My handle is @pompouswindbagwholikesthesoundofherownvoice.