Pump your fists, brush off your shoulders and throw them fingers up — today The Daily Princetonian rounds out its countdown of the 15 greatest celebratory gestures in NBA history, revealing the gestures so exceptional you can express how good they are on one hand: No. 5 to No. 1. Before the celebration begins, a quick recap of where we've been over the past weeks: 15. Vince Carter's engine rev 14. Michael Jordan's frozen fist pump 13. LeBron James' "Roc Sign"/"Diamond Cutter" 12. Shaquille O'Neal's giant walk 11. Mark Jackson's cross 10. Stromile Swift's wings 9. Dikembe Mutombo's finger wag 8. Tim Thomas' "You can't see me" 7. Reggie Miller's choke 6. Chris Childs and Eric Murdock's throat-slashing gesture
5. Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson's head bop
Remember the Y2K scare? How about the Subway Series? If you don't, blame Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson, who, upon breaking into the NBA together as first-round picks by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000 draft, soon had fans across the country killing their brain cells in self-destructive fits of joy.
Miles and Richardson rang in the new millennium by accentuating every one of their highlight-reel plays with a pair of swift, double-fisted attacks on their own crania. Whichever one of them had scored would lift both fists in the air, then bring them down twice upon the front of his head. When the two up-and-coming swingmen connected on an alley-oop dunk, they would perform the ritual simultaneously, then point each other out in recognition.
Neither member of the duo would ever explain exactly what the head bop signified, but the mystique only added to the gesture's popularity. In pickup games worldwide, ballers lacking the biceps to execute a convincing fist pump or the freakish finger length to mimic Dikembe Mutombo's wag embraced the head bop for the expression of their hoops-related happiness.
Two seasons later, just when the gesture was starting to get old, Miles left Los Angeles for Cleveland and immediately gave it new life. Playing on opposite sides of the country, Miles and Richardson seemed to be using the head bop to communicate through some language only they could understand. Whether activating their invisible antennae or pioneering some derivative of Morse code, every time the players brought their fists down onto their skulls, they brought the world of NBA celebratory gestures one step further into "The Twilight Zone."
4. Sam Cassell's marbles
Any time the baseball-comedy classic "Major League II" is referenced — consciously or otherwise — on the NBA hardwood, props just have to be given. But to recreate the particular scene that Clipper point guard Sam Cassell did during last year's playoffs? That takes some big ... well, you'll see.
In one of most heart-wrenching moments of "Major League II," the slugging Cuban defector Pedro Cerrano and the newly acquired Japanese outfielder Isuro Tanaka find a way to overcome the considerable language barrier that divides them and share their thoughts on manhood.
With Cerrano mired in an ugly slump, Tanaka takes it upon himself to confront his teammate one day in the locker room. Lifting his cupped arms up and down below his waist while flipping furiously through his Japanese-English dictionary, Tanaka shouts at Cerrano, "You have no ... you have no ..." Cerrano struggles to infer his teammate's meaning as Tanaka's hanging arms continue to exaggerate the presence of something between his legs. "Marbles!" Tanaka yells in broken English. "You have no marbles!" Tanaka's gesture fills in the rest for Cerrano, who incredulously translates the anatomical term into his native Spanish: "Marbles? ... huevos?"
During Game 4 of the Clippers' battle with the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 Western Conference semifinals, Cassell left no doubt as to who possessed the biggest marbles in Los Angeles' Staples Center. After the point guard capped a 28-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist night by nailing the game-clinching three in a 114-107 Clipper victory, he channeled Tanaka while running down the court in below-the-belt celebration.
From Japan to Cuba, basketball fans got Cassell's message loud and clear.
3. Larry Johnson's "Big L"
The embodiment of gangster, Larry Johnson's two-armed tribute to his own initials possessed remarkable beauty in its simplicity.
While elsewhere on the Madison Square Garden floor, Johnson's New York Knick teammates and opponents were choking themselves and slashing their throats in hyperagressive pantomime, Johnson was content to coolly backpedal down the court after each clutch three-pointer, paying homage to the name his mama gave him.
Fists clenched, Johnson would raise his arms in front of his face — perpendicular to each other, left fist touching right elbow — so as to form an "L" from the audience's perspective, a "J" from Johnson's perspective, and an "LJ" in their collective imagination.
It had this columnist petitioning his parents for a legal name change to Larl Jickafoos.
2. Shaquille O'Neal's disembodied hand
When an NBA sharpshooter catches fire, he'll often talk after the game about being in the zone — the type of out-of-body experience where the mind shuts down and muscle memory alone guides ball after ball through the net, burying defenders in a sea of jump shots.
When Shaquile O'Neal's body takes over, the damage it inflicts isn't quite so innocent. For the seven-foot, one-inch, 325-pound O'Neal, "the zone" is a place where opposing centers get dunked on so hard they retire the next day. It's a place rims get pulled down to 45-degree angles and backboards meet the floorboards.
That's why when Shaq snaps out of the zone and reflects on what he's done, the gesture he often makes is less celebratory than repentant. As The Daddy lumbers back down the court following a particularly powerful post play, he's been known to stare in wide-eyed, open-mouthed wonder at his own right hand — horrified to acknowledge the implement of destruction as an extension of his own person.
1. Antoine Walker's shimmy
Anyone who has followed the NBA over the past few years is familiar with the Miami Heat forward's patented dance move; can relate to the joy of watching 'Toine nail a three, saunter over to the Heat bench, cock back his shoulders like he's going under the first bar in a limbo contest and proceed to furiously shake his chest. All the while, Walker manages to hold back a smile while producing the most seductive facial expression he can muster. As his teammates circle around him — laughing hysterically and waving their towels — Walker withdraws deeper and deeper into his performance. Drawing inspiration from both the Harlem Shake and the "Cuchi-cuchi coo" dance popularized by the busty Latin singer Charo in the 1970s, Walker's shimmy truly seemed to be something we had never seen before.
But in a video that is quickly becoming the Bigfoot footage of the world of on-court celebrations, Walker has outdone even himself. Search "Walker floor shimmy" on YouTube.com, and you'll find a ridiculously grainy, three-second clip of Antoine performing a classic shimmy while lying supine on the floor of Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena. Glaring into the camera, 'Toine clearly knows he's taken the NBA celebratory gesture to the next level.
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