Newspaper references 'hawk tuah' around NBA trade

There are often unusual phrases that take off and get referenced outside of their original context, including in sports. The latest there is “hawk tuah.” And now it appears to have spread to newspapers.

First, a quick refresher for those unaware of the phrase. This started earlier this week with a street interview in Nashville where YouTubers Tim and Dee TV asked a woman to describe her signature move in bed. Her response went viral, and even led to claims that she had been fired over it (but those come from a satire site ). But the response has wound up everywhere, including in Brandon Gaudin and CJ Nitkowski’s in-booth discussion on a Bally Sports South Atlanta Braves broadcast, and in complaints about ESPN’s 15-second camera shot of women eating ice cream at a College World Series game.

The latest came following the Atlanta Hawks’ trade of Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans Friday. There, Pelicans’ fan Jonathan Barnes (known for his the “This Sh*t More Than A Game” merchandise ) called for the New Orleans Times-Picayune to use a “Hawk Tuah Pelican” line:

Well, thanks to Times-Picayune / New Orleans Advocate editor and designer Tanya Ramirez-Ulrich, that came to be (although in a slightly more subtle fashion). And she tagged Barnes in her photo of Saturday’s sports front:

This got quite a response from Barnes:

Times-Picayune Pelicans’ writer Christian Clark (who wrote this story) and columnist Rod Walker also chimed in to praise this and reference Barnes:

And many other fans and media members got a kick out of this too:

As Miller notes in that last tweet, this works well because it’s a fair and reasonable headline even for those unaware of the reference. Murray did go from being a Hawk to a Pelican. And for those not aware of the Hawk Tuah meme, there’s nothing to see here. (As NWSL announcer Mike Walls told AA this week in reference to his own bits, including working 15 Taylor Swift song titles into a broadcast , “The goal, the optimal outcome, is that you were subtle enough that not everyone understood what you were doing.”) So this maybe works even better than the Braves’ broadcast discussion, which needed more understanding of the reference. And this was well played by Ramirez-Ulrich and the Times-Picayune team.

[Tanya Ramirez-Ulrich on X/Twitter, Snopes ]

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