'The NBA Called Me And Said Hell No': Hall Of Famer Carmelo Anthony Recalls NBA Banning The 'Cojones' Celebration

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.