The strange ways NBA players show respect to one another

There’s a number of ways NBA players show their admiration for each other. Here are some of the stranger ones.

In a recent story on ESPN, several players and coaches speak about the strategy of double-teaming James Harden as soon as he crosses the floor, with many seeing it as a sign of respect. Harden himself sees it as a sign, “that I’m doing something right, [that] I’m pretty good.”

While Harden is pretty much the only NBA player guarded this way, other stars are given respect from their peers in a wide variety of ways. Most of these are not as noticeable as they tend to occur off-court and outside of the public eye, but due to some deep investigation, we at The Step Back were able to uncover a few of these shows of respect for ourselves.

A ‘patent’ for Taco Tuesday given to LeBron

LeBron James has not been subtle about his love of tacos. He regularly posts a bevy of stories on Instagram showing him, and all who are with him, shouting out the phrase “Taco Tuesday” and he even went as far as to try to trademark the term with the U.S. Patent Office.

Unfortunately for James, the application was denied since “Taco Tuesday” is already “a commonplace term.” However, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, as a sign of respect, made LeBron a commemorative certificate honoring him for further popularizing the term and gave it to him before the Mavericks and Lakers met for a thrilling overtime game on November 1.

While it wasn’t quite the same as a genuine trademark, it made James happy. He plans to get it framed and hang it up in his office once his schedule clears up a bit.

Old band shirts given to Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook’s love for fashion that verges on the avant-garde is well known. And while it was one of his less outre outfits, one choice that really resonated with the general populace was his wearing a tattered Slayer t-shirt in January 2016.

While faux-vintage shirts can be found anywhere, as a gift for his old friend Russell, James Harden wanted to make sure he got him the genuine article following Westbrook’s 2017 MVP season. Harden spent hours scouring Etsy looking for an old band shirt that screamed “Russ” to him. He eventually settled on a Fleetwood Mac shirt from the Mirage tour as well one from T. Rex’s Slider era. Westbrook really appreciated them as tokens of friendship but found them wanting stylistically.

A commemorative watch for Damian Lillard

After being eliminated by the Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2019 Playoffs following Damian Lillard’s buzzer-beating series clincher, Paul George was a little salty in the game’s immediate aftermath. He called it a “bad shot,” after all.

As the spring turned to summer, though, George reflected on those words and they haunted him a bit. He saw the replay and realized what a stunning feat Lillard had pulled off. He wanted to make amends and show his respect.

George did this by buying Lillard a custom watch with the words “When you’re here, it’s Lillard Time,” engraved on the back, awkwardly mashing together Olive Garden’s slogan and Damian Lillard’s calling card. Lillard found it a touching gesture, but was confused by the engraving and thought the overall design was a bit gauche. Nevertheless, he keeps it on his bedside table.

The Lakers sang a song for Luka

On the same night that Rick Carlisle gave LeBron an honorary trademark, the Lakers decided to show their respect to Luka Doncic after his astonishing performance that night by singing him a song.

Spontaneously, as Doncic walked off the court, the Lakers gathered together and began singing “Halleluka” over and over. None of them were aware of the fact that the Ringer had beaten them to this idea by nearly a year and their sense of rhythm was off so that seemingly no two Lakers were singing the same syllable at the same time.

Doncic was moved, but also a bit annoyed by the whole thing. His team had just lost, after all and plus, Doncic is a big fan of Leonard Cohen and hearing his original song butchered like that just rubbed him the wrong way.

A gift card to Wahlburgers for Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler’s allegiance to actor Mark Wahlberg is well known. Accordingly, Jimmy Butler’s favorite restaurant is Wahlburgers. Unfortunately for Butler, though, there are no Wahlburgers locations in Miami, but as an NBA player who is on the road a lot, he does at least get to occasionally drop in at the franchise’s locations in Chicago, Memphis, Orlando, Detroit, and Cleveland.

As a reward for winning Player of the Week last month, coach Pat Riley gave Butler a $25 gift card to Wahlburgers. While it may not seem like much, that’s intentional as Riley really hates the idea of his star player ever eating a burger. But with the Heat off to such a good start, Riley was in a good mood and decided that Jimmy Butler could have a little Wahlburger, as a treat.