The NBA Finals: Where Bullying Works?

Never underestimate the internet's ability to bully someone into bending to their whim, no matter how powerful the opponent.

As I, along with some of my coworkers, have been quick to point out, the NBA made a big "oopsie daisy" by removing the Larry O'Brien trophy from center court of The Finals series.

The fine folks of X seemed to echo this sentiment, leading to a barrage of complaints from fans of all creeds, colors and political beliefs.

The NBA took notice, and dropped one of the laziest attempts to placate its fans in quite some time.

Yikes! A big swing and a miss from the Association.

The bigger point here, however, is that Adam Silver and his merry band of cronies were listening; an attempt was made, albeit a particularly half-assed one.

Silver wasn't the only one taking heed of what the World Wide Web was whining about.

Legendary play-by-play announcer, Mike Breen, known for his iconic "bang" calls during big games, was noticeably "bang-less" following a huge shot from Tyrese Haliburton to help the Indiana Pacers steal Game 1 in Oklahoma City.

A fine call, by all accounts, but when you are known for your "bangs," it feels a little hollow when a big moment such as that happens without one.

After the game, Breen could feel the internet breathing down his neck thanks to his notable omission, so he did what most of us would do when faced with a similar situation.

First, he backtracked and tried to play it off as intentional.

Then, when X users smelled BS, they pounced, providing numerous examples of Breen "banging" during mid-range shots.

After the cold hard facts were laid out before him, Breen acquiesced and, by some measures, overcorrected, which the fans noticed as well.

A first quarter "bang!?"

Oh Lord, the internet has this man rattled.

Give yourselves a pat on the back, NBA fans.

You successfully bullied a media legend into overusing his patented catchphrase and semi-successfully bullied a sports league into returning some of the pageantry to their once-proud championship round.

We are only two games into the Finals, so I am excited to see what bullying will bring back next.

At this rate, we could see Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson flanking Breen by the time Game 3 rolls around.

Anything is possible when the internet holds this kind of power.