NBA Signature Moves Bracket And Why The Dream Shake Is The GOAT
Over at Locked on NBA, we decided to fill the summer dead time with a bracket of the best signature moves in NBA history. It’s a deliciously fun project that has sent me down YouTube rabbit holes aplenty. Here are some thoughts on them.
First, the bracket:
You can vote on the matchups on our YouTube posts page here.
Here’s our first breakdown of some of the matchups and then my expanded thoughts on them:
(Grades on a 1-5 scale with 5 being the best)
(1) KAREEM’S SKYHOOK
COOLNESS: 4
CONSISTENCY: 5
EFFECTIVENESS: 5
UNGUARDABILITY: 4
There’s a lot of talk about it being unstoppable. The real reason the skyhook is difficult to duplicate is because it’s a shot you can defend while moving the shooter out of his spot without fouling.
If you apply enough force on the drive, you can bump them just a little bit out. Go back and watch how guys guarded it, straight up, little to no contact, especially low. That’s risky, because that will get called if you push with your hands on the hip, but if you use the body, you’re probably going to get away with it.
Still, the man scored 38,000 points with it, it’s an elite shot from an elite player with elite branding.
(16) SGA’S ZOMBIE PUSH-OFF
To understand what I’m talking about, you can read this piece on Shai’s MVP candidacy from last season:
COOLNESS: 2
CONSISTENCY: 3
EFFECTIVENESS: 4
UNGUARDABILITY: 4
Basically, Shai uses his upper arm and shoulder to create separation while keeping his forearm and wrist limp, which avoids the technicality of an offensive foul. It’s a killer move.
The problem is that no matter how many times you watch it or understand it, it’s a move that feels like an offensive foul.
WINNER: KAREEM’S SKYHOOK
(1) HAKEEM’S DREAM SHAKE
COOLNESS: 5
CONSISTENCY: 4
EFFECTIVENESS: 5
UNGUARDABILITY: 5
I must admit to bias here as Olajuwon is either my 2nd or 3rd favorite player of all time depending on the day.
This is THE ONE:
Face-up perimeter drive, ball fake, spin back, hook shot pump-fake, inside-shoulder turn, layup against one of the five best shot blockers of all time.
Rewatch the clip and just watch the footwork. Tune out everything else and JUST watch the footwork.
It is Monet’s “Impression, Sunrise.” The move is dozens of small brush strokes that leave you in awe. Look at the number of moves in every combo in the first clip. Head fakes, hip fakes, shoulder fakes, ball fakes, everything. It was impossible to stay grounded against him because the move didn’t have to result in him getting back to any particular position, he could make the shot one-handed fading.
(16) STEVE SMITH’S “THE SMITTY”
COOLNESS: 3
CONSISTENCY: 5
EFFECTIVENESS: 4
UNGUARDABILITY: 2
It’s a hesitation head fake. A sublime hesitation head fake but a hesitation head fake nonetheless.
The beauty of it is in the subtlety of it, but it’s also not going to break a player like some other dribble moves.
WINNER: DREAM SHAKE
(8) TIM HARDAWAY’S UTEP 2-STEP
COOLNESS: 5
CONSISTENCY: 4
EFFECTIVENESS: 4
UNGUARDABILITY: 4
OK, first, a video with a thumbnail of Isiah Thomas talking about Tim Hardaway Jr. is not the most problematic thing you can find on NBA Internet1, but it’s gonna make the power ranking. 2
But the rest of the video is informative. Steve Nash, Steph Curry, truly legendary point guards talking about this as the best move, ever.
Now, it’s a dribble move which doesn’t guarantee the bucket, but his ability to use it any time at any speed was nuts.
Watch him use it on the fast break at the 29-second mark:
To be able to get to that move at full speed is pretty nuts. Hardaway has gotten to be a pretty lost legend, and provided the work he’s done to genuinely make amends for his ignorance, this is a good way to recognize how damn good he was.
(9) CARMELO ANTHONY’S INFINITY JAB-STEP
COOLNESS: 4
CONSISTENCY: 4
EFFECTIVENESS: 3
UNGUARDABILITY: 2
As I hinted at on Locked On… I don’t know why everyone was scared of the step.
In 2013 when Melo got an MVP vote that ruined LeBron James’ bid to be the first unanimous MVP in league history3, Melo was still only 57th percentile in rim efficiency, and only 79th percentile in rim rate despite being an absolute black hole offensively.
He wasn’t going to drive, he was going to take the middy pull-up. And yet everyone fell for it. Now, the counter is that if you give Melo an easy one, he would have dunked it. But even then, there’s an element of his expectation that you’ll defend it and his intention to shoot to begin with. He’s primed for the mid-range shot.
Anyway, a lot of people like Melo but he’s a player I think whose game and legacy gets worse with time.
WINNER: UTEP, 2-STEP, DUB STEP, HARDAWAY IN 4
(8) HARDEN’S STEP-BACK
COOLNESS: 4
CONSISTENCY: 5
EFFECTIVENESS: 4
UNGUARDABILITY: 5
The missing part is what I termed Harden’s “narco-dribble” in the late 2010’s.
What you’ll notice a lot on Harden’s plays if you don’t just zone out is that it looks like Harden’s just killing clock, but what he’s actually doing is using his crossover to slowly move his feet left so that the middle of his body is over the defender’s right foot defending, which lets him either a. get to his left for the drive or b. get to his stepback left.
It’s a really tiny thing that stands out when you slow it down. His step back drives people nuts because much like Shai’s push-off, it looks like a violation, in this case a travel, but it isn’t:
Harden’s late 2010’s prime is going to get forgotten because of his playoff foibles and because that entire era will just be summarized as “Steph.” But it really was (and still is from time to time) a devastating maneuver opponents could not ably defend.
(9) STEPH RELOCATION 3
COOLNESS: 5
CONSISTENCY: 5
EFFECTIVENESS: 5
UNGUARDABILITY 3 (theoretically if you made every perfect switch you can actually shut it down, it just almost never happens)
Locked on NBA host Doug Branson putting Harden into this matchup was cruel. There was no way that Harden was going to win this in the popular vote and there’s no way Steph was going to lose it.
I’ve done more work on Harden’s game, by complete coincidence than any other player in my career, because the deepest work I ever did on MVP was during his über prime. His game has so much more to it than people think.
But Curry’s relocation three is one of the most unguardable actions that completely demoralizes opponents in NBA history.
I understand the impulse to put the double-bang 35-foot pull-up here.
Curry’s pull-up three is legendary, devastating, and he was the first one to do it routinely. But it’s mostly a case where the style of the shot doesn’t separate it. It’s just a pull-up three, except from longer away.
It would be like putting Jokic’s ridiculous three-quarter shots up there, except with Curry he shoots like 38% on them because he’s touched by the Gods.
But the relocation three is a different deal. That’s how he gets his best shots. That’s the magic of Steve Kerr’s offense and how it unlocked Curry to be an all-time great while fans still clamor for Steph to just run pick and roll even though he’s way worse in those situations.
The relocation three takes a combination of precision by Curry running off screens, synchronized offense, endurance for Curry to constantly be moving, changing directions, and bamboozling the defense, and then the speed of his release combined with his otherworldly shooting touch.
It is a true magic act that leaves the opposing fans wondering “HOW DID THEY LET HIM GET OPEN?!”
WINNER: CURRY RELOCATION 3
(2) MAGIC’S NO-LOOK PASS
COOLNESS: 5
CONSISTENCY: 3
EFFECTIVENESS: 3
UNGUARDABILITY: 3
As you can probably tell by my rankings, I think this is a little overrated.
At the 22 second mark, Magic is looking into the CROWD. Why? Who is he going to throw to?
At the 45 second mark, what on earth does looking away do there?
This is an essential issue with no-looks. I’m not denying the difficulty, you have to be able to target without your eyes. It’s a blind pass. But with the number of passes players make, they can do this!
There are some in that clip that are downright dazzling. The one at the 26-second mark breaks my brain. I just don’t think it’s that devastating of a move from a “trying to stop the other team from scoring” perspective.
These passes would probably hit me differently if he played today with more spacing, different angles, and more ground to cover.
But the pass is iconic. Old hoop heads will instantly say “Magic” if you say “no-look.” He defined it, and that style of play defined him.
(15) KEVIN LOVE OUTLET PASS
COOLNESS: 4
CONSISTENCY: 4
EFFECTIVENESS: 5
UNGUARDABILITY: 3
I prefer the Minnesota version of Love, both in outlet passes and overall. His rebounding was berserk and those outlet passes were bananas.
But come on, this is a mismatch even if I think Magic’s no-look is overrated.
WINNER: MAGIC OUTLET PASS
More on the matchups later this week, be sure to check out the show:
Hardaway had straight despicable comments about hating gay people back in 2007. But he’s done a lot of real work to try and actually change, build bridges in the community and be an outspoken critic of homophobia. A good indicator is that he maintained his repentance despite the ability in 2022 to play the “I was cancelled by woke culture” card. He could have hit the conservative circuit with Enes Kanter and Andrew Bogut and made some bank.
Steph Curry would accomplish the feat, and deservingly so, three years later in 2016. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe was the dissenting voter. Washburn is a legend, a terrific beat writer on an iconic beat for decades. But I’m always going to be a little mad about that vote.
I’ve enjoyed this bracket online. I think Harden’s entire body of three-point-line footwork is wildly under-appreciated for its technical ability and influence on the way stars play today. He legitimately invented moves out there!