We Done With the 90s

Submission 3,180

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About

We Done With the 90s is a catchphrase used to criticize 90s basketball and that era's players as being unskilled compared to modern basketball. In particular, the phrase is used to say Michael Jordan "didn't have a left hand," meaning he couldn't adequately play with his left hand when needed, claiming that LeBron James is a better player overall. The meme was popularized on TikTok in March 2024 and gained viral spread, inspiring users to compile clips of 1990s basketball games that support their theory, with others defending '90s basketball and Jordan using other clips and claims as the online debate ensued.

Origin

The catchphrase "we're done with the 90s," along with the similar phrase "we're done with the 80s," were coined by Instagram^[12] user and podcaster we_done_wit_da_90s, also @peektown4 on TikTok, of the Peektown Podcast.

The trend was popularized by TikToker @yooreaction, who started reposting we_done_wit_da_90s videos around February 2024, using the phrases to criticize highlights of '80s and '90s NBA games, also putting particular criticism on Michael Jordan starting with a TikTok^[1] video uploaded on February 15th, 2024.

On February 26th, the TikToker^[2] posted a video of a Jordan highlight in which he claims Jordan had "no left hand," meaning he couldn't adequately play with his left hand when needed, garnering over 800,000 views in two weeks (shown below, left). On February 28th, he posted another video to TikTok^[3] criticizing a '90s NBA highlight, yelling, "We done with the 90s," and garnering over 1.2 million views in the same span of time (shown below, right).

Spread

Talk of Michael Jordan having "no left hand" spread over the following weeks along with the phrase "we done with the 90s" as a way of generally calling out bad NBA plays in the '90s. On March 7th, 2024, TikToker^[4] @esqanthony posted a video further expanding on the idea that Jordan had no left hand and was a less skilled player than people say, garnering over 2.1 million views in five days (shown below). The video was reposted by X^[5] user @BronGotGame that day, garnering over 11,000 likes in the same span of time.

On March 8th, X^[6] user @LeShendyJames posted "WE DONE WITH THE 90S" a Jordan highlight re\el using clips of his highlights to defend the player, garnering over 8,000 likes in four days. On March 9th, TikToker^[7] @isogojo posted a '90s highlight showing Jordan wrap the ball around "from his right hand to his right hand," as said by the commentators, garnering over 1.6 million views in four days (shown below, left).

On the same day, TikToker^[8] @bigbodyballerboi posted a video claiming he was skeptical of the criticism towards Jordan at first but admitted that after watching highlights from the '90s he was convinced, showing the clips that convinced him, garnering over 4 million views in three days (shown below, right). The video was reposted by X^[9] user @KevOnStage, garnering over 6,400 likes in the same span of time.

On March 10th, 2024, a discussion about the trend was started on the subreddit /r/basketball,^[10] garnering over 60 upvotes in two days. The phrase also began to see use outside of basketball to criticize other things from the past that are arguably overhyped. For example, on March 11th, X^[11] user @IamN0nee posted a meme using the phrase to hype up the new Fortnite season over the classic season, garnering over 3,600 likes in a day (shown below).