C.J. McCollum made Jennifer proud

The 2019 NBA playoffs have been C.J. McCollum’s time to shine, and that pattern followed through in the Portland Trail Blazers’ 100-96 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. In an off night for Damian Lillard, McCollum exploded for 37 points on 29 shots, including a clutch step-back bucket to secure the win.

He did it for Jennifer.

For those who don’t remember, Jennifer, a basketball Twitter celebrity who goes by one name, was brought back into the spotlight when Portland defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 104-99, in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. After the game during the post-game press conference, a reported jogged McCollum’s memory:

He told Jennifer he was going to try to do this.

And the story just keeps getting better. For Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, ESPN invited Jennifer to Oracle Arena to actually meet McCollum in person. Jennifer is a Warriors fan, so she essentially turned that one tweet into a meet-and-greet with an NBA player and a chance to watch her favorite team in the postseason.

Plus, we got an iconic photo that will be part of Blazers history. Twitter is amazing sometimes.

It was the middle of August 2018, and McCollum had made headlines for saying he would never join the Warriors or another superteam to chase an NBA championship. His reasoning: “I’m not built like those guys. I was raised differently.”

Social media took that and ran with it, so much so that McCollum commented on Twitter. “Y’all stay bringing up old stuff,” he said. “Y’all got me out here looking like a bitter ex.”

He wrote that the Warriors were one of the best teams ever assembled — a fact — with four Hall of Fame players and another on the way (DeMarcus Cousins) — another fact.

“I’m happy,” he continued. “Stop making look like a [scorned] man sheesh.”

The thing is, though, Portland had just gotten swept in back-to-back playoff series: first in 2016 by the Warriors (which, understandable), then embarrassingly by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2017 (which, inexplicable).

Along came Jennifer, who had seen enough of McCollum’s talk. She had a simple mandate: “Win a playoff game then talk.”

McCollum’s response went viral. “Im trying Jennifer.”

It instantly became the next great NBA meme.

It was a T-shirt.

It became artwork.

It became commentary.

It took over social media. That’s why McCollum got a deep, hearty laugh out of the question. Jennifer was a legend, even if it was just for a single tweet.

C.J. tried, and he did. And now, Jennifer says she has fans from all types of NBA fanbases asking for her help. She has a new name now: the playoff whisperer.