Celebrating shots made is an essential part of basketball, especially if they were difficult to score. There are few feelings better than making a bucket on a defender on the pitch.
However, sometimes these celebrations end up becoming disrespectful to opponents. A recent video posted on House of Highlights featured a street hooper doing a disrespectful celebration after scoring on a defender. The celebration featured the hoop hugging their opponents after scoring a contested 3PT shot on them.
Many NBA fans reacted to the celebration, with many agreeing it was disrespectful. Some of them suggested that Stephen Curry should start doing this celebration, obviously because Curry is a 3PT sniper who can achieve the things done in the video, but at the NBA level.
It remains to be seen whether this celebration will eventually become widespread. He certainly got a lot of attention from fans on social media. However, it’s clear that not all opponents enjoyed the hoop while doing this, and perhaps it should be avoided in some situations.
There have been equally disrespectful celebrations on the NBA stage
Of course, NBA players also celebrate the hoops made, and there have been some celebrations by players that have been seen as disrespectful. Even LeBron James had a celebration that wasn’t appreciated by everyone.
In the 2021-22 season, LeBron James had a “cojones” celebration after hitting a 3PT clutch shot on Myles Turner in a game against the Indiana Pacers. He was criticized for the celebration by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after the match, who chastised James for doing a “childish dance” and disrespecting the other team on the pitch.
“For me, winning is enough. Why do you need to do a stupid childish dance and disrespect the other team on the field? It doesn’t make sense. GOATs don’t dance,” said Abdul- Jabbar.
Obviously, watching the celebrations is part of the fun of being in the NBA. Sometimes they end up pissing others off, but on some level that’s almost unavoidable. Many celebrations will end up making someone angry, especially opposing fans.
Maybe we’ll eventually see the celebration displayed by the street hooper make its way to the league eventually. However, for now, it’s just a fun time to watch as a basketball fan.