The I Owe You an Apology, I Wasn’t Really Familiar With Your Game meme is an image macro of basketball great Shaquille O’Neal, commenting on Houston Rockets forward Christian Wood’s game performance during a post-game interview. The image has been used online with great frequency as an apology to sports players (and beyond) who have exceeded expectations in some way or were generally underestimated prior to a particularly fine performance.
‘I Wasn’t Really Familiar With Your Game’ meaning and context
The source of I Wasn’t Really Familiar With Your Game came on January 14th, 2021, after an NBA game between the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs took place. During the game, Houston Rockets forward Christian Wood scored 27 points.
In the post-game interview, former baller (and Kazaam himself) Shaquille O’Neal, apologized to Wood for his earlier comments, stating, “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t really familiar with his game.” In response, Wood said, “Oh man, you’re a casual.”
The phrase has gone on to act as a stand-in and shorthand across the internet for underestimating someone.
Origins of the meme
In the immediate aftermath of the interview, a clip of the exchange between Shaq and Wood was posted on Twitter by @r0bato. The tweet received over 150 retweets and 1.1k likes, but within two minutes, @TheNBACentral, an NBA news account, reposted the clip. That particular reposting gained 510k views, 630 retweets, and 8.8k likes over the next two years.
That same January 14th, the now-famous two-panel macro image of the exchange was posted to Instagram by news account @theScore.
The post received over 58.7k likes and began an Internet phenomenon.
The meme goes viral
While the original interview took place in January 2021, the image did not see wide use as a meme until May 2022. It all picked up when Twitter user @SorokaPlsHeal used the image as a reaction in a tweet on May 7th. The post received a modest 60 likes, but revolutions start small.
Two months later on July 1st, @LALeBron23 posted the image on Twitter in regards to basketball analyst Brian Windhorst. The tweet received over 2,600 retweets and 27,900 likes in seven months.
I Wasn’t Really Familiar With Your Game usage picked up in the second half of 2022, when the reaction image saw widespread use among sports fans when a player put on an unexpectedly great performance. From there came the edits. For instance, a version of the image re-captioned to “You owe me an apology, you tricked me,” spread on Twitter in October 2022.
Around that same time, a reverse remake of the image, captioned, “You can’t fool me. I am familiar with your game” started being used as well.
‘I Wasn’t Familiar With Your Game’ Sukuna quote
The NBA and the world of manga don’t often share a bridge of commonality, but such a thing occurred with the release of Jujutsu Kaisen, Chapter 261 on May 27, 2024. You might remember the manga from the popular “did Gojo die” online trend. In this chapter, Sukuna fights Yuta, who, much to Sukuna’s surprise, has mastered Kenjaku’s cursed technique. In the aftermath of the fight, Sukuna states the following:
“I apologize for underestimating you. I didn’t know you were capable to go that far.”
@fillxystiktok Sukuna really said : I wasn't familiar with your game #jujutsukaisen #gojo #sukuna #yuta #yuji #jujutsukaisenedit #animeedit #investing ♬ Tufi🕊️ – orijinal ses – Tufi🕊️
That was quickly compared to the original Shaq quote by fans of the manga, which was nearly a carbon copy, sentiment-wise. A quasi-rebirth of the meme was born.
In pop culture
The phrase has extended far beyond the context of sports. It is now used generally as a pleasantly surprised response praising someone previously underestimated in any situation imaginable.
I Owe You an Apology, I Wasn’t Really Familiar With Your Game meme examples
