LaMelo Ball seems to think that Golden State Warriors color commentator Kelenna Azubuike was doing some player hating this week.
Ball’s Charlotte Hornets played the Warriors on Friday. After hitting a three-pointer in the first quarter, Ball put three fingers to his head in celebration. Azubuike then proceeded to call Ball out for supposedly stealing the move, which was popularized by Carmelo Anthony.
Warriors announcer calling out LaMelo for using Melo’s celebration. pic.twitter.com/LQ21r8U8Ah
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) February 27, 2021
“His celebration, he’s doing three fingers to the head like Carmelo Anthony,” said Azubuike. “I know they’re both Melo. But come up with your own celebration. Be original.”
After the game, Ball took a moment to respond to a video of Azubuike’s comments on Instagram.
“Ganggg kno,” wrote the 19-year-old. “Been doing this since I was a jit.”
“Jit” is a slang term that stands for “juvenile in training.” The post below from the account @BreakAnklesDaily on Instagram shows that Ball has indeed been doing the celebration since he was a young kid at Chino Hills High School.
Azubuike, who played in the league from 2007 to 2012, is a contemporary of Anthony’s. But Ball is part of a generation who grew up idolizing players like Anthony and should be able to pay tribute without being criticized. It is no different than a player from Azubuike’s generation doing the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag.
Regardless though, Ball is far from the first NBA star to be accused of stealing a celebration.
