Top 5 Celebrations in the NBA

The Dikembe Mutombo finger wag is an iconic celebration.Part of playing basketball is having fun with the game, enjoying the good moments and sometimes taking the bad ones a little too hard. Along the enjoyment lines is watching one of your favorite players in the league make a big play for his team and then celebrate with his own unique celebration. Celebrations can be funny, they can send a message, and sometimes they just let you know the player is having as much fun possible playing the game. With salaries getting bigger and bigger in the NBA, some fans accuse the players of only caring about the money, but, to me, celebrations let fans know that these are proud men who are fighting tooth and nail to win a game, while also immensely enjoying themselves and wanting to put a show on for the fans.Many players in the league do their own unique celebrations that you can see emulated on the playground everyday. Some celebrations come and go, but there are some that resonate with fans and become apart of basketball culture. For example, the above Dikembe Mutombo finger wag is a celebration that many players today copy when they block a shot attempt. Celebrations don’t have to be much, as a finger wag is a very simple gesture, but whether they are simple or elaborate, a good celebration is always fun to watch.

#1 Wes Matthews Shoots His Arrow

We begin first with Wes Matthews, seen here with the Portland Trail Blazers, and now playing with the Dallas Mavericks. Wes began doing this celebration a few years ago almost every time he would knock down a three-point basket. It a very simple celebration, where he mimics pulling out an arrow from the imaginary quiver on this back before shooting the arrow with his imaginary bow, but it goes perfect with his ability to knock three point shots down in volume (he is second in the league since 2011-2012 in three-point makes).

It is also a perfect fit because, as some who is a good shot with a bow and arrow is called a marksman, so is someone who can knock down a high number of three-point shots.

What makes this celebration stick as a top one in the NBA is how much it has caught on with fans and teammates alike. In the above gif, you can see him doing the celebration with one of his teammates, as they clearly enjoy doing the celebration almost as much as Wes does. Sometimes fans clamor that celebrations are just a look at me gesture, but in an 82 game season that can turn into a grind, players need ways to let out enjoyment and this is one that Wes has been doing for years while also getting his teammates involved.

#2 Russell Westbrook\'s Ironic Finger Guns

Next up we have another three-point celebration, this one courtesy of Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Much like Matthews, Russ’s celebration of holding up each hand like a finger gun with three fingers up, blowing on them mimicking a shooter blowing the powder away from the gun barrel before holstering the finger guns is simple yet effective in showing the joy he has in knocking down a three.

Russ usually only breaks out this celebration when he is feeling his shot or makes a three pointer at a big point in the game. Russ always accompanies the holstering of his finger guns with his patented smile or yell.

What makes this celebration great is the fact that Westbrook is a poor three point shooter, 30% for his career, and he should almost never take the three that he just did. So while he is smiling and yelling about the big shot he made, many are sitting there shaking their heads laughing that he got so lucky to even make it in the first place. Sometimes, the best quality to a celebration is how ironic in can be for the players skill set.

#3 Kobe\'s Mamba face

We have all seen the Mamba face when Kobe makes a big shot.

When you are an iconic, generation-defining player with legions of fans who swear by everything you do, it is only right that you have a signature celebration. When Kobe came out with the Black Mamba nickname, many people scoffed saying, “How can you give yourself a nickname? We are definitely never calling you that.” Well all these people were proved wrong as you are almost as likely to see hear some refer to Kobe as the Black Mamba or Mamba as you are by his birth given name.

With the Mamba nickname, Kobe also unleashed the Mamba face where he juts out his lower jaw and shows his teeth after many made baskets in tight games. Since Kobe has been in many close games and come up with a plethora of huge buckets, we have seen this face over and over again, both from Kobe and as it has trickled into playgrounds everywhere. While the face looks a little awkward and a tad bit weird, it is so unique and fits Kobe’s personality of determination and never say die attitude so perfectly, that people can’t help but embrace it.

#4 LeBron\'s Back Breaker

From the most famous basketball active player, exhibit 1, in the previous slide, we know bring you the celebration of the most famous active basketball player, exhibit 1A, right here. LeBron James was known for fake pictures and throwing chalk in the air during his first run for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but when he made the move to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010, he assumed a role of basketball villain as well and needed a celebration to match. What soon popped up was this stomping celebration that LeBron dubbed “The Back Breaker.”

It was the perfect name for the perfect celebration by the best player in the game. It started at a time when LeBron began his current run of five straight NBA Finals appearances, and he was continually breaking the backs of opponents.

Just watching the celebration, it looks like a statement of dominance saying, “I came here to end this game and that’s just what I did.” The teams knew they were now going to lose the game and James was going to show them that in one fell movement. LeBron has shown he has great mastery of the game of basketball, and, just maybe, he has a great mastery of perfect, catchy celebrations.

#5 Stephen Curry\'s Shimmy

We finish up with the current king of the NBA, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and it is only fitting that the reigning MVP would have a celebration. Now the Steph Shimmy isn’t unique to him, his former coach Mark Jackson used it during his playing days in the 1980s and 90s, but Steph has made it a popular celebration among NBA fans. One of the first times he broke it out was in the above gif, a night in February 2013 that saw him drop 54 on the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

As you can see, when Steph goes to the shimmy, he becomes one with the shimmy, seen here running right past Draymond Green’s high five. Curry breaks this out every now and then, sometimes after one of his ridiculous threes, sometimes after a particularly nifty layup, or even going into timeout breaks when the Warriors are one of their patented game killing runs. What makes this celebration so fun is how carefree and free flowing it is.

Just like watching Steph unconsciously pull up for a three-five feet behind the three point line, the Steph Shimmy has a similar out of body type feeling to it.