Best of the Bench #2: Unsheathed

As you’ve probably noticed, we at Friendly Bounce don’t love the NBA solely because of the game action. There are so many unique things that make the league great on an everyday basis.

One of those things is bench celebrations. The NBA has the best bench celebrations in the world, and it’s the one thing that puts Robert Sacre on par with Stephen Curry.

So, to make sure you don’t miss any of the best bench celebrations this year, we’ll be running a post every month to highlight the top celebrations. Here are the best bench celebrations of November.

#5: KG being KG…again (hT @ByJayKing)

You guys aren’t going to believe this, but KG got super intense on the bench again. It’s a shame he plays as much as he does, because he’s much more fun on the bench. I really hope he ends up as an assistant coach when he’s done playing, because this would be even better if he was in a suit.

#4: Steph Curry’s child-like satisfaction

Look, I’ll be honest. This isn’t even a great celebration. So, why am I including it?

Because this is the best player in the world!

This guy, with the towel over his head. Curry looks more like a kid whose mom told him he could stay up late and watch the Warriors than the superstar point guard of the Warriors.

He truly is the stuff of legends.

#3: Tim Hardaway Jr’s Shimmy (h/t @RKalland)

Unfortunately, the camera didn’t catch Hardaway’s entire shimmy, but we got enough of it to get the idea.

There’s something about Paul Millsap that brings out odd celebrations in his teammates, as Mike Muscala made the list on a Millsap spin move in the first Best of the Bench.

People have been claiming the Knicks won the Jerian Grant-Hardaway trade just because Hardaway’s only played 44 minutes so far this season and hasn’t played well. Maybe they need to consider the intangibles, like this move on the bench.

#2: J.R. Smith and Kevin Love’s spin (h/t @CavsNationNet)

The best part of this recurring celebration has been LeBron’s reaction every time he is in the shot.

He’s definitely played the too-cool older brother. Here he turns around to his two teammates spinning with an expressionless face. My guess is after the cutaway his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Smith and Love won’t be stopping this anytime soon, though, so be on the lookout during Cavs games. I can’t wait for their buddy cop film.

#1: Solomon Hill unsheathing the 3-sword (h/t @its_whitney)

Alright, technically this was last night, which was December. But I wasn’t waiting until next month to unleash this one. It’s too good.

If you don’t like the naming of the 3-sword, don’t blame me. Blame Solomon Hill himself.

Hill referring to GRIII as the 3rd of his name makes this ten times better. And kudos to Hill for tapping into the underutilized sword unsheathing. This should definitely be more of a thing, and Hill deserves to win the month for it.