5 comments To Celebrate Or Not To Celebrate

I'm all about big dunks and obnoxious celebrations. In the right circumstances, of course. Normally we watch awful player x celebrate a meaningless dunk in garbage time. In the video above, you'll notice that unfortunately Dwyane Wade has entered this lamentable group of players.

First let's take a look at the celebration. His sideways Dante Culpepper celebratory hand swinging has creepy-guy-at-a-club written all over it. But I'm not going to put all of the blame on D-Wade. It's clear that he had nothing prepared. But it's also clear that he's not a natural celebrator. Thankfully, he's not alone. We've already seen (in a clearly bigger moment) Alan Houston simply sprint after sinking a game winner. Kobe Bryant chooses to extend his lower jaw with each dagger. None of these celebrations is truly satisfactory. Give me something creative. Maybe take lessons from B.J. Raji. But more importantly, if you're not a natural, be prepared. Especially if you're a player of Dwyane Wade's quality. It's more than likely that that celebration will come in handy.

That said, there are some clear rules for warranted celebrations. After the above dunk, Miami was down 8 points. At most, a fist pump or a quick crowd stare down is permissible. Any further celebration both vastly overstates the enormity of the moment and seems a bit ridiculous. Granted, Wade's dunk was sweet. But he's full of highlight moments, so save the celebration for when it matters.

If you're not a star player, you barely have any celebratory rights. Outside of late-game big time shots or clear top 1o SportsCenter plays (during a close game), you shut your mouth and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle. Nothing's worse than a J.R. Smith unprompted and unnecessary dance. It's almost as bad as the refs who think fans attend to watch the black and whites blow those whistles.