Signature moves over the course of NBA history a lot of superstars are recognized for their signature moves
I would say that those signature moves are a huge reason why they were successful in their craft
How's it going? Fellas? My name's Andy
And today we're going to take a look at the top 10 most iconic signature moves in NBA history. All right, let's get started
number 10 Raja Rondo's behind the back fake pass
now, I'm sure that behind the back fake pass move was done before but Rondo was the guy who really popularized and made it his
own
Throughout his career
He was always known for playing mind games with his opponents
And this move is basically the essence of who Rondo is as a player
He's able to pull it off really well because of his combination of large hands and the long wingspan
So he makes it more convincing when he stretches all the way behind his back and because he's such a great passer opponents gotta respect
To pass even if they know Ronda will do the fake
Other players recently like Ben Simmons have also adopted Rondo signature pass fake. If done correctly. It's very effective
Number 9 Manu Ginobili zero step
Even though there's been a lot of European players who played in the NBA before Ginobili arrived
I'd say that Ginobili definitely made the Euro step into what it is today a
Ton of players have incorporated the Euro step into their games and sometimes it's incredibly deadly especially when a guy like Yanis does it?
All the credit deserves to go to Ginobili for popularizing the Euro step in the NBA in his prime
He was known for his flashy playstyle and the Euro step was flashy and exciting to watch but above all else. It's really effective
When you don't want to run into a defender and get an offensive foul, you can whip out the Euro step and go around them
It's also good when the defender jumps up for the block
But the offensive player never goes up and instead just goes around for the layup
It's amazing how many players use it today? But nobody did it better or made it. Look as cool as Manu Ginobili
Number eights Magic Johnson's no-look pass
In the 1980s the Showtime Lakers played the most entertaining style of basketball the NBA has ever seen
None of that would have been possible without Magic Johnson and more specifically his incredible passes
His trademark was the no-look pass which he used in a variety of different ways
The creativity of magic was second to none. He was arguably the most creative passer ever up there with Pete Maravich
Everything he did was not only great to watch but it confused even the best defenses and sometimes it would even surprise his own teammates
His passing tricked everybody and it just showed that magics court vision was far ahead of anyone else at the time
He was always two steps ahead of everyone else and before defenders could react the Lakers already scored. I
Also think that magics Heights played a role in allowing him to make passes like that
being a legit six foot nine point guard was unheard of and
He can basically see over the defense and find the best spots to pass the ball
Regardless magic is the greatest point guard of all time. And it's unlikely anyone would ever surpass him for that title
Number seven Steph Curry's long threes. I
Had to include curry on this list because he was the guy who drastically changed the NBA in recent years
this 3-point era where teams are shooting like 35 or 40 percent of their field goals from beyond the arc is largely because of the
influence of curry and the Golden State Warriors
Curry shoots threes from like 25 or even 30 feet away from the basket, which is insane
He does it on a consistent basis and actually makes them
In his 2015 216 season his best season of his career
He shot 67 percent from beyond 28 feet. That's freaking insane
He took about 50 shots from that distance all season. So the sample size was decent
It's crazy how good he is shooting from that far away, but when you think about it, it kind of makes sense
Usually defenders don't contest shots that are you know that far away so curry was probably wide open on a lot of them
Other players have also started to shoot more long threes because apparently it's not a bad shot anymore
Damian Lillard has been doing this for a while too and same Brian Anderson
Being able to shoot from that distance puts a ton of pressure on the defense and it's also why the high pick-and-roll is the Warriors
most effective play which they run a lot
The spacing is just insane with Curry's gravity being able to just stand there and still be the biggest threat on the floor
Number six Tim Duncan's Bank shots
Duncan's bank shot is one of the reasons why he got the nickname the big fundamental he was so
Fundamentally sound on both ends of the floor
Offensively, he wasn't flashy at all, but he mastered the basics which was the foundation for his success
Unfortunately, the bank shot is rarely used today. It's used in less than 8% of a team's total field goal attempts
It was never that popular in any era to be honest, and it's more of a niche thing for certain players
For Duncan. He usually posted up at the left or right elbow
So he preferred banking it in instead of going up for a regular jump shots
Obviously it worked out for him five championships three Finals MVPs two regular-season MVPs, they speak for themselves
Whenever anybody thinks about Duncan his bank shot is typically the first thing that comes to mind
Back in his playing days everyone in the league knew that he was the best at making them and nobody else came close
Number five LeBron's chased down block
LeBron has a few trademark moves that could probably make up an entire list by themselves
But I think that chase-down block is his most recognizable move
In Game seven of the 2016 finals that was the defining moment of the game along with kairi's three-pointer
What makes this move so scary is that every time an opposing player gets a steal
They have to be wary of LeBron
If they don't it's gonna be an easy block for him because he's so good at timing his jump
It's basically common knowledge you got to go up strong to not get blocked by LeBron
Other players have done the chase down before like tayshaun Prince
For example who probably has the most famous one, but none of them do it as consistently as LeBron
He's a 6/8
250 260 pound guy who runs as fast as any guard in the league and even at an older age
He can still jump as high as ever
And it's honestly incredible how well he's aged. I
Remember back in the day people
Try to argue that LeBrons gain will age very poorly because he relies on athleticism and it made sense at the time
But what nobody realized is that how well LeBron takes care of his body and he got a lot smarter, too
Number four Allen Iverson's crossover
I'd argue that he was the most influential player since 2000
So many young players looked up to him because he played the game in his own way with his own unique style
During a time when guards his size were expected to be you know
Actual point guards Iverson changed that expectation instead. He focused on scoring and became a scoring machine
In my opinion his two most famous highlights were when he crossed out Michael Jordan as a rookie and when he crossed up tyronn
Lue and stepped over him and what do you see in both of these highlights his crossover?
Iverson's crossover is his signature move and inspired millions of people to go out to their back yards and try to copy it when playing
Pickup, although there's been some controversy about it
recently
Tim Hardaway believed that AI carried the ball every time he did a
Crossover and I will admit he bent the rules a little bit
But it was still hard to call it traveling nowadays pretty much everyone quote unquote carries the ball during a crossover
But the refs don't call it. So I guess it's legal
Regardless the crossover in general made the game a lot more fun to watch. It's a huge part of basketball culture
And Iverson was the guy who paved the way for the new generation of combo guards
Number three the fadeaway
So I want to talk about a couple different iconic fadeaways
First we have Dirk's one-legged fadeaway his signature go-to move
That is pretty much unguardable and other players started to copy it too because of how good it is
It worked amazingly for Dirk because he was so tall
When you're a seven footer doing a fadeaway and sticking out a leg to create space
There's nothing anybody could do he's going to get a high percentage shot every time cuz it's like the defender isn't even there
The other fade away is the MJ or Kobe style
Fadeaways where they create space by making a quick move or turning their shoulder after a post up
now what separates MJ and Kobe's fadeaways from the average players fadeaway is that they primarily rely on their footwork and elevation when they jump
If they're only six foot six with average wingspan, so they can't just shoot over everybody like Dirk in my opinion
they also have the most aesthetically pleasing fadeaways to watch because it's just a cool move a
Mid-range fadeaway is a high risk low reward shots because it's kinda inefficient, but when it goes in it looks amazing
Kobe especially made a career out of taking difficult shots, and the fadeaway is no exception
It's really hard to pull off and most coaches nowadays. Don't even want their players to take a shot like that
But for those three guys, it was their bread and butter
Number two Hakeem Olajuwon dream shake, ah the good old dream shake the move that defined Hakeem Elijah Blondes career
In his most famous highlights the one against David Robinson Hakeem put him in a spin cycle
This was in the 1995 Western Conference Finals
Robinson got his MVP trophy and Hakeem got his revenge
Putting up 35 points 13 rebounds 5 assists and over 4 blocks in the six-game series
It was without question the best series of his career and he put on a full display of his dream shake
Hakeem is arguably the greatest post up player in history
He was so versatile and quick
He was unguardable in the paint because he had so many moves and if one move didn't work, he just used the next one
Hakeem has said that the inspiration for his dream shake was based off of his days playing soccer. She
Realized that soccer players had great footwork. So he incorporated it into basketball. The dream shape was all about footwork and instinct a
Lot of superstars over the years have went to Hakeem to get some training to improve their footwork
But the dream shake is something that can't be taught and that's why we'll never see another Hakeem Olajuwon
Number 1 Kareem's skyhook
The most iconic move ever the move that defined the career of the player who scored the most points in NBA history
The move that looks pretty basic and should be easy to replicate yet. Nobody has been able to do it and why is that well
Firstly Kareem was massive. He was listed at seven foot two
but it's been speculated that that was without shoes on so he'd probably be listed at seven three or heck maybe even seven four if
He played today
Secondly, Kareem skyhook was a lot different from the normal hook shots
When most players do a hook the power comes from their arms, but with Kareem skyhook, he used mainly his wrist
This allowed him to get a lot more control when he shoots cuz it's almost like a regular jump shots
Additionally Kareem barely moved when he did the skyhook
He lifted up his leg and jumped a little bit
But the main idea was to focus on controlling the wrist movement to accurately hit the shots
In recent times players tried to replicate the skyhook
But they usually end up doing this weird running hook floater thing. It looks cool, but it's inconsistent
Playing in the post in general is a lost art as most teams are moving away from it because very few players are good enough
To score efficiently from there. I
doubt we'll ever see anybody else master the skyhook the most unguardable shot in NBA history and
That's all folks those were in my opinion the top ten greatest most iconic signature moves ever
Honorable mentions to George Gervin finger roll. Tim Hardaway's crossover James Harden step-back
honorable mention to pistol Pete's elbow pass and Jason Williams elbow pads as well and
Kevin Garnett blocking shots after the whistle. All right. I hope y'all enjoyed that video
Thank you all so much for watching and I'll see you next time. Peace
