The Warriors’ Instagram bait read: “The internet is cool because we can post an old jersey swap, and maybe some guy named Erling will comment ‘Go Dubs’.”
The NBA team paired it with a clip of Erling Haaland handing them a signed Manchester City shirt.
In the immediate aftermath, Haaland had not replied. He had, however, replied to just about everyone else.
When the Premier League posted his new Fantasy Premier League price, Haaland dropped a single “nice” under it, and the comment cleared 200,000 likes. The entertainment page Pubity shared a clip of him dancing.
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He answered with one word, “Steak,” and the reply passed 700,000 likes.
When an account posted AI-generated pictures of him in a bridal hairstyle, he wrote back “Thanks for the inspo.”
Then there are the fan-baited prompts. After Tom Holland mentioned an old dinner invitation to Haaland on Jimmy Fallon’s show, Haaland took the bait:
“Dinner invitation accepted. A little late. Just name the place!”
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From 40m to 70m in six weeks
The account behind this used to belong to a very good striker with a normal follower count.
Then Norway happened. Haaland ended a 28-year World Cup absence for his country and added seven goals across the tournament, including a brace that helped knock out Brazil. Norway went out to England in the quarter-finals, losing 2-1.
His Instagram followed a different curve. Between June 1 and July 16, Haaland picked up close to 30 million new followers – a 42% jump – sending him past 70 million and making him the World Cup player who added more followers than anyone else at the tournament, according to Lefty data reported by nss sports.
He posted 187 times across Instagram and TikTok in the same window and, per the same tracking, drove 94% of Norway’s total national-team reach.
Why ‘nice’ is enough
The comments themselves.
Haaland is not saying anything. That is the point. He replies with one word, or one bland word, to posts built entirely to produce a Haaland reply, and the deadpan does all the work.
That is how a US basketball team ended up posting a Norwegian footballer’s old jersey swap on a Thursday, hoping to become the next entry in a running joke that started when the Premier League got a “nice.”
The Warriors are still waiting.
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