As the Oklahoma City Thunder finished paving their path to the NBA Finals with a decisive victory over the San Antonio Spurs, James Harden threw up a pair of hand signals that were caught by both television and photographic cameramen. I actually witnessed the moment myself, but I didn’t think much of it. I kind of figured Harden was simply celebrating the three-point field goal he’d just made… but what I didn’t notice was that he’d only held up two fingers on each hand, as you can see in the picture above.
Harden is known to be one of the NBA’s predominant hipsters, but a gang banger? He’s certainly never struck me as the type (not to judge a book by its cover, but the man wears bow ties and Urkel glasses for christ’s sake). Still, his celebratory signals were received with a fair bit of animosity as they seem to have resembled a blood gang set. The most notable source of criticism was Slim Thug, a famed rapper who hails from the streets of Houston, Texas. Although Slim’s angry tweets have since been wiped off the face of Twitter, screenshots quickly circulated around the internet. Here they are…
So… is James Harden any sort of gang banger? I can’t honestly say I’ve got the answer, but I highly doubt it. As Slim Thug so eloquently points out, he’s getting NBA money. If he’s actually “’bout that life” then he’s a goddamn fool. That being said, I feel like Thugga’s being a bit of a hypocrite. He’s always talking about his riches, being on MTV Cribs, and flossing his jewelry, yet he certainly portrays himself as a character who is truly “’bout that life.” What’s up with that?
Slim does make a couple of decent points, though. I too refuse to believe in a mohawk G, and I’ve yet to come across a blood who wears blue to work.
Whatever the case, stick to the family-friendly, three-point hand signals, James. As for you, Mr. Thug… I’m ready for a new album—preferably one that sounds like it’s about 10 years old. Thanks.
