Honestly, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hold a basketball? Yes, okay, to shoot or maybe dribble. Alright, fair enough. But many connoisseurs and romantics of the sport would answer “the trick where you spin the ball on your finger.” Or something like that, because… it doesn’t really have an established name.
Whether because of Nikos Galis or the Harlem Globetrotters, we have all been magicians for a few minutes in our lives. Or rather, wannabe prestidigitators, since few have truly managed to master this trick. But there’s always room for joy, for everyone. We have all been, for about 4-5 seconds, an imitation of the aforementioned “magicians.”
And we felt incredible. Gods, cool guys. Especially if it was at school in front of the girls from our class or at the end of practice, when the volleyball team was getting ready to come onto the court for their turn. Generally, we’re talking about a trick that always made us and still makes us feel… pros.
Especially if it was also accompanied by rolling the ball from one hand to the other, something basically done in gymnastics! The great “pity” and “what if” of this trick, of course, isn’t just for us mere mortals. In 2024, ladies and gentlemen, during the Team USA media day ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, two GOATs… were exposed!
Hear ye, hear ye, LeBron James and Steph Curry—likely teammates next season on the Warriors—couldn’t do the trick! Meanwhile, Jrue Holiday did it with ease, while Devin Booker even added some… fancy footwork! It seems you either have it or you don’t. You’re born with it, you don’t become it!
So, basketball fans, don’t worry. If you can’t do it, just think that not even LeBron and Curry could. If that’s any consolation.
Oh, of course, they have a few… million more. Never mind, we’ll get them back on the next trick.