Carmelo Anthony’s three-to-the-dome gesture is a legendary celebration that is widely used in the league and even in street basketball. But Anthony pointed to another celebration that will go down as his favorite.
The former Knicks forward revealed it is actually Sam Cassell’s ‘Big Balls’ celebration, also known as the ‘Cojones’ celebration, that he always wanted to take forward. But the league had other plans.
“There are some legendary ones. I’m gonna tell you one that got banned! It was like Sam Cassell’s ‘Big Balls’, like as a kid you always wanted to do that when you hit a big shot.” Anthony said.
Anthony was on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to promote his Hall of Fame Ceremony this weekend. He revealed how the NBA had to intervene once he made the gesture during a game.
“I carried that over to the NBA, and I made a big shot. I did it one time, and the NBA called me and said, ‘Hell no.’ I said, Sam Cassell’s doing it!’ But no. That’s a special celebration right there.” Anthony tried to reason with the officials, but it did not work out.
While Carmelo Anthony did not specify when exactly he did the celebration, considering that no video evidence is available on the internet, it can be assumed it was from back in his days with the Nuggets, when social media was not as prevalent as it is today.
The celebration Anthony is referring to has landed other players in trouble as well. LeBron James famously paid a $15,000 fine for using the “obscene gesture” after he hit a three to tie the game against the Indiana Pacers. Fred VanVleet got the same treatment before King James. Even Kobe Bryant was seen doing it back in the day.
Cassell was the first one to use the gesture that the league later officially termed and banned as an “obscene gesture”. But once Cassell did it, it quickly became a viral moment even before social media.
In a 2024 interview, the former Minnesota Timberwolves point guard revealed that the celebration was inspired by a 1994 film, Major League II. He watched a player use it and took it up from there.
“Somebody hit a home run, he jumped up on the fence and caught the ball, and he just came down with the big balls. I was like, I like that, I’m stealing that.” Cassell told Draymond Green.
The NBA has shown a strict policy against celebratory gestures that can be classified as obscene. Insinuating gestures such as ‘Humping the air,’ or gestures that promote violence, such as ‘finger guns’ or ‘pulling/throwing a grenade,’ have landed players in trouble in the past.
At the end of the day, NBA athletes are role models for millions of children, and even though they have the right to express themselves as adults as they deem fit, they need to be cognizant of their stage and how many people will repeat what they showcase.
