"Holy Airball" and the Ubiquity of Basketball Terminology

The ball is in your hands, and you have a perfect look at the basket. You line up the laces and shoot. It feels good. It looks good. The ball flies through air in slow motion, and you are certain it’s going to be a swish. As it gets nearer to the rim it falls short, and hits nothing on its way to the ground. With a look of dejection, you can’t believe it—you shot an airball.

Shooting an airball is one of the most dejecting feelings in sports, because it starts with so much promise only to lead to inevitable disappointment. It is such a rollercoaster of emotions that it has spawned a viral trend on TikTok where people have highlighted an interesting fact about them by exposing an incorrect assumption that people have made about this interesting fact (such as a professional baseball player being asked if they play baseball on the college level). The post then ends with either “holy airball” or “holy f*****g airball”.

The trend is good fun and has covered a wide range of topics including dating, jobs, and hobbies. The popularity of the trend has reenforced that basketball, more than any other sport, has terminology that just sticks in pop culture and the general lexicon. It speaks to the universal nature of basketball and why it is a sport that on some level will always be relatable.

Shared Terminology

The holy airball trend is another in a long line of basketball phrases that have made their way into modern slang. That is because basketball, more than other sports, reflects the emotion of life, filled with creativity and spontaneity. It’s a game predicated on confidence and feeling. Other sports like football are mostly formulaic. Plays are drawn up and run, everything is predicated on flawless execution of the plan. Basketball oftentimes has a more free-flowing nature.

Holy airball makes sense and resonates as a good joke with people because it is a moment that encapsulates overconfidence that engenders the brazen faith to say something without full knowledge. Then when exposed for being incorrect, peak embarrassment ensues. It is the real-life equivalent of shooting a basketball and having confidence turn into shame instantly. This is not the first time that a basketball term has so succinctly described a moment.

One of the most exciting plays in basketball is the dunk. It is power, grace, and when done over a defender, a moment of pure domination. Dunking over someone shows that in that moment, you were the superior athlete and could not be stopped. It is no surprise then, that the term “dunking on someone” has come to mean publicly insulting or humiliating them (typically on social media). Once again, the emotions run parallel—dunking on someone in basketball or in a comment section creates a sense of being untouchable. Life imitates art.

Consider two terms that have been used often in the corporate world: alley-oop and layup. Both are plays that any basketball fan is familiar with. One is an exciting demonstration of teammate communication and execution (alley-oop), while the other is one of the most fundamental shots in basketball with a relatively low degree of difficulty (layup). In business, team members will mention throwing an alley-oop pass to their teammates as a way of indicating their collaboration and that they are looking out for one another. Similarly, when a task or request is deemed as simple, many will call it a layup. (Queue someone throwing up a paper ball to the trash for an office alley-oop).

Even terms like buzzer beater and full court press have found applications for meeting deadlines and applying maximum energy to a situation, respectively. The term “shooting a shot” has even been applied as a common term in the dating world, or just to describe putting one’s self out there in a situation that possibly leads to rejection. Ironically, one could argue that “holy airball” could be a response to “shooting a shot”—a coincidence that further reinforces just how prevalent basketball is in our lives.

Basketball is Everywhere

You walk past your spouse or a co-worker, and you hit them with an Allen Iverson-style crossover. You’re throwing clothes into the washer, and you shoot them like a jump shot. Someone tries to throw something past you, and you swat it away and begin wagging your finger like Dikembe Mutombo. The influence of basketball is everywhere.

Basketball, and the NBA in particular, is a very culture forward sport and league. NBA players are the definition of cool and are often at the forefront of pop culture. Look no further than the way that players have been sought out as fashion staples—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden come to mind here.

More than other sports in the United States, basketball has built its league on stars. There is a celebrity that comes with being a star player in the NBA that may not have the same gravity in other leagues. Shoe deals, local and national endorsements, and general deifying that happens in their home city are commonplace for the NBA star.

Because basketball often has unique artistry to it, basketball players and their key moments will often be mythologized. Kids will grow up and often relive iconic plays like LeBron James’ chase down block, Michael Jordan’s shot over Criag Ehlo, Damian Lillard’s game winner over Paul George, and others.

It’s like movie or television quotes. We often quote our favorite movie lines throughout daily conversation, to the point that it becomes part of everyday lexicon. Lines like “Why so serious?” (The Dark Knight), “I’ll be back” (The Terminator), and ”May the Force be with you” (Star Wars) have all become things that people say with the inflection that was delivered on the screen because they have been woven into our societal fabric.

In the 1990s, basketball stars simply became stars, often appearing in commercials, acting in movies, and recording rap albums. This current generation has expanded into team ownership—LeBron James and Kevin Durant have minority stakes in European soccer clubs (Liverpool and Paris Saint Germain, respectively).

With this level of exposure, it is only natural that bits and pieces of basketball terminology would find their way into how we speak and, inevitably, into viral trends. Basketball is relationships, it is individual and collective exceptionalism, and most of all it is a universal language. It’s filled with focus and bravado, and the way we use its terms is indicative of that. “Holy airball” may be a passing fad, but our love affair with this game is everlasting.