3 Unforgettable signature moves of NBA greats

A great proponent of their craft is often recognizable as much for the little things as the whole body of work. Sometimes it is the literal signature an artist puts on their paintings; sometimes, with an actor, it’s the way they deliver a line with just the right amount of pause. With a sporting professional, it can often be the way they do their thing as much as how often they do it. NFL fans of a certain age will remember Barry Sanders’ jump cut as much as they remember the numbers he put up as an elite rusher on a team that was anything but elite.

The NBA is an ideal league in which to have this kind of signature move. There are scoring plays fairly often, only five players from each team are on court at once, and if you’re an elite player who NBA Bitcoin bettors look to put their money on, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to imprint your special moves on the minds of the viewing public. Below, we will look at three of the greatest players, and the moves that will always stick with us. There are many more, of course, but these are some of the most iconic and memorable.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s “Skyhook”

It may be the case that this is the season Kareem’s NBA points record is finally broken, and by a fellow Laker in LeBron James, who Cloudbet customers can back to break the record this year.

As an offensive move, it was devastating. Abdul-Jabbar was 7’ 2 and had a prodigious vertical leap off one foot. When he released the ball, it was at a height of about 11 feet, and nobody was going to block it. Players who grew up watching him hit it have long since retired, and in all that time, nobody has come close to hitting jump shots as consistently and as often.

Michael Jordan’s Fadeaway

The best offensive moves in basketball are, like the Skyhook, almost impossible to defend. Jordan’s fadeaway falls into that category. He didn’t invent the shot – Wilt Chamberlain had done it for years before him – but he made it his own, sending the defender one way and immediately moving in the opposite direction to exploit that moment of space. He would then face the basket and kick out his front foot to stabilise the shot, and then the ball would be gone, on its way to the basket. It’s science – if you go through all those moves, you’ll find the space and improve the accuracy of your shot. But you’ll need Jordan’s speed of thought and movement to do it in a game, and few people alive have those attributes.

Karl Malone’s Pose Dunk

This isn’t a shot with a high degree of difficulty. It’s not a move that will get you past a tenacious defender. But it’s immediately memorable because Malone has appeared on countless posters, with his hand behind his head, dunking the ball for another two points. Why is it iconic, when it doesn’t show any particular skill? Simple. When you’re watching a player on the opposing team raining dunks down upon you, it’s all the more demoralizing to see them showing off for the cameras while doing it. They’re saying “I respect you so little that I’m celebrating before the points have been scored”. And that hurts.