Top 10 Three Point Celebrations in the NBA
J.R. Smith celebrates a three
The three pointer has become the staple of the best teams in the NBA, and we just saw the best jump shooting team in the league win the championship. Good teams understand the value of the three point shot and know how to get open looks for their shooters. But this article focuses on something much more important than team success or winning championships. This article focuses on celebrations, more specifially, three point celebrations. I've created a list of some of the best three point celebrations in NBA history, and I'm going to rank them using super-scientific data and inarguable facts (not really, I'm just gonna make it up). This is not a ranking of one-time celebrations, like the J.R. Smith celebration above. These celebrations have been repeated, and that, obviously, makes this ranking much more important.
Last: Caron Butler's "Calling Long Distance"
Hello? Caron? This is every NBA fan. We just wanted to let you know that your celebration is really, really stupid and no one thinks you're cool when you do it. We all get the whole "long-distance" connection, but there's a reason no one has done that celebration before. Maybe if you had started it from your first days in the league it would've caught on, but you waited until you were basically washed up before doing it, which certainly doesn't help the "cool" factor. Well, talk to you next time you make a three. Bye.
Number 10: Sam Cassell's "Big Balls Dance"
The "big balls dance" makes the list because of it's repeatability. Many players have copied Sam Cassell's dance, including Kobe Bryant, after making a big three. The fact that the originator of the dance looks like E.T. also helps bump the dance up, because all the other celebrations were performed by humans, which makes this one more unique.
Number 9: Dirk Nowitzki's "German Three Sign"
Extending the thumb and first two fingers is how people in Germany (and probably other parts of the world, too) count to three. So this is the German equivalent of the three goggles, but way cooler, because A: Dirk was doing this before the three goggle became popular and B: when everyone, everywhere started doing the three goggle everytime they made a three, it become uncool.
Number 8: LeBron James's "Dance Step"
I do not like LeBron James, but the first time I saw him do this I thought "Alright, that was kinda cool" so I knew it had to make the list. I do have a question, though: do you think he practiced this beforehand? I mean, he must have, right, because that certainly didn't seem spontaneous. And if he did practice, how do you think that went down? Did he practice by himself in front of a mirror? Or did he practice with his kids? My guess: Mike Miller taught it to him.
Number 7: Jason Terry's "Jet"
Terry gets bonus points for doing a celebration that represents his nickname, so double cool. This celebration has also been repeated, and also by Kobe (who must not be very creative), but it'll always be Terry's.
Number 6: Stephen Curry's "Point to the Heavens"
By the way, I'm just making up the names for these as I go. Anyway, Curry does this little celebration almost every time he makes a three. If another player did this celebration it probably wouldn't make the list, but because Curry is the reigning MVP and best three point shooter in history, his celebration is cool. The celebration itself is not very flamboyant, which means you can do it during your pick-up games without looking like a huge jerk.
Number 5: Reggie Miller taunting Spike Lee
I'm stretching the rules just a little bit here to include Miller verbally assaulting Spike Lee into this ranking. I said it couldn't be just a one time occurence, and while this only happened in one game (at least to this degree), it happened multiple times in that game. If anyone has a problem with this, please feel free to keep it to yourself. I'm sure you all know the story behind this clip: Lee was harassing Miller, inspiring Miller to take his game up a notch and lead the Pacers to a comeback win. As Miller hit more and more shots, his jabs at Spike Lee became more and more aggressive, culminating in the ever popular choke sign/crotch grab combo. Unlike Curry's celebration, you cannot do this during your pick-up games without looking like a huge jerk.
Number 4: Steve Novak's "Championship Belt"
For some reason, the irony of a role player who hardly ever plays performing the championship belt maneuver really appeals to me. Novak's only job in the NBA is to make threes (which is good because he can't do anything else), and he's bounced around the league during his career, but for a few months in New York, the championship belt was a regular occurence.
Number 3: Antoine Walker's "Shimmy"
The clip above is from the end of Walker's career, but he was shimmying since his first day in the league. I used to dislike the shimmy, but as I was thinking about this piece and doing some research, I remembered it much more fondly than I thought I would. It was unique and well-known and hasn't really been replicated since Walker retired. Walker may not have any money, but he will always have the shimmy.
Number 2: Carmelo Anthony's "Three to the Brain"
The three finger sign has been used for a long time in the NBA, but I can't remember anyone using it quite like this. The three fingers plus the three taps to the side of the head just emphasize the "three-ness" of the celebration. Since the three pointer has become incredibly popular, it only makes sense that the "three-iest" three point celebration should rank this highly.
Number 1: Russell Westbrook's "Six-shooters"
What sets Westbrook's celebration apart from the rest is the ferocity with which he celebrates. Westbrook doesn't merely place his imaginary pistols into their imaginary holsters, he slams his imaginary pistols into their imaginary holsters. I'm waiting for the day when an opposing point guard makes a three over Westbrook, copies his celebration, but then pretends that his gun accidentally goes off and shoots him in the foot as he's slamming it into the holster. Fingers crossed.
The real number 1: Nick Young's "Who Says you have to Score to Celebrate"
Yes, this only happened once, so it doesn't fit the rules I laid out at the beginning for the celebrations on this list, but the rules don't apply to Nick Young (obviously). If Nick Young followed the rules then he wouldn't be celebrating threes that don't go in, and if he didn't celebrate threes that don't go in then we wouldn't have the video clip above, and if we didn't have the video clip above then Nick Young wouldn't be on this list, and if Nick Young wasn't on the list then we'd have no perfect ending to this article, and if we had no perfect ending to this article then I'd have to keep listing if/then scenarios in run-on sentence form until the end of time, and no one wants that. So thank Nick Young for reminding us that rules are meant to broken, and for allowing us to celebrate...even when we miss.
