Bulls rookie Noa Essengue will be seeing the Pacers’ Johnny Furphy in his nightmares.
Essengue suffered a nasty posterization at the hands of Furphy in Monday’s NBA Summer League game between Chicago and Indiana, and the entire basketball world reacted — with Caitlin Clark no exception.
On her Instagram story, the WNBA superstar posted the image that has been circulating everywhere since the play: Furphy jamming the ball through the hoop, and Essengue making a priceless reaction that is sure to be memed for years to come.
Since being drafted No. 1 overall by the Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Clark has been a Pacers superfan and she made a number of courtside appearances during the team’s run to the NBA Finals.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was another notable name to chime in, posting on X: “Johnny MF Furphy sheeeeeesh” before calling the 20-year-old Australian “your favorite player’s favorite player” in a subsequent post.
Countless fans had their say, too, with dozens playfully captioning the picture of Essengue’s reaction to the dunk.
“Lmao he gotta retire,” wrote one fan on X.
“Noa will never live this down,” posted another.
“Noa Essengue hit rock bottom without playing a single minute of the regular season,” said a third, with another writing: “When it is cold, and you stub your big toe on the corner of the dresser.”
The Bulls and Essengue did get the last laugh, though, since Chicago emerged with a 114-105 win and Essengue scored 21 points to Furphy’s 15.
The Pacers picked Furphy in the second round of the 2024 draft, and though the 6-foot-8 wing hardly played last season, he’s in line for an elevated role this year with Haliburton sidelined until 2026-27 with an Achilles injury.
The Bulls selected Essengue, an 18-year-old power forward from France, 12th overall in this year’s draft.