Issue 79: Everybody Dance Now — Who Has the Best Moves?

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It doesn’t matter if you’re good at it or not — dancing is a good time. It’s releasing all those endorphins, puts you in a great mood, and is usually accompanied by some catchy music.

Few things can beat taking a moment or two to boogie. Though those moments are even better when they happen on professional basketball floors.

Here are a few of the top moves.

John Wall Informs Us How to Douglas

John Wall probably wasn’t the first person to teach us how to Dougie, but his rendition is the first time I ever saw someone how to do it, so he’ll get all the credit.

During the 2011 Rookie Challenge, Wall finished with 12 points and 22 assists and was named the game’s MVP. At the behest of his Rookie Challenge coach, Kevin McHale, Wall broke out a Dougie after the final buzzer sounded.

When this song came out, one of my coworkers at the time really wanted to learn how to Dougie. He looked up a tutorial online that I believe was taught by Cali Swag District themselves, and all I remember was they said you basically lean side to side and swing your arms.

In other words, just do your own thing. I like the flair Wall adds, and his is still the best performance of a Dougie I’ve ever seen.

Shaq, LeBron, and Dwight Howard Dance-Off During NBA Jam Session

I would like Shaquille O’Neal to attend every dance party I have from now on. In the span of two short minutes, he gives us some break dancing, the worm, and a “pumping heart” move with a fellow center that used to play on the Orlando Magic.

Shaq is easily the winner here, though I very much enjoy Dwight Howard’s “throw the beat super high up in the air, look for it, then catch it” maneuver he pulls off.

Meanwhile, LeBron’s dancing is TOO NORMAL. I can go downtown and see those moves. He may be superhuman on the basketball court, but on the dance floor, LeBron is merely one of us. I suppose that’s kind of comforting.

Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics Take it to the Streets…er, Center Court

Oftentimes during a dance battle, you’ll have a few people take charge while everyone else kind of gaggles around. Not the case during this delay between the Mystics and Fever. Just about every single person involved with both teams takes a turn.

Washington’s Natasha Cloud starts us off with some extreme excitement at the beginning, though there’s lots to take in throughout the whole dance battle.

We see a bit of an aforementioned Dougie, a Stanky Legg, a Kid ‘n Play duo, and then the entire floor crew and the mascot even hop in at the end.

I have no idea why this game was delayed, but if this is the result, I want every basketball game to have a delay.

Ty Lawson Hits Game-Winner, Loses His Bones

This one comes dangerously close to being a big moment celebration, and this issue ain’t about that. However, I have used a similar move on the dance floor, so we can sneak it in here.

Back in 2013, Ty Lawson—seen here getting his legs taken out by an errant teammate in my favorite blooper ever—hit a game-winner for the Denver Nuggets.

Right after the basket, he does what I like to call the “silly putty” dance, when you just let your arms hang by your sides and wiggle around. It’s easy enough that we can all do it, though only a few people can make it look good.

Lawson actually gets a double dance in here; he does the silly putty solo and then when his teammates mob him, he does it again while they shadow box with him. Because dancing is fun when nobody’s around, but it’s even more fun while you’re being punched in the stomach.

Boston Celtics Fan Sings Bon Jovi at Everyone in the Arena

It can be hard to stop caring about what other people think of you. But hot dog, when you do, it’s a glorious feeling.

I’m probably at about a “don’t care 35% of the time” level right now. This guy, though? He’s a “turn it up to 11” type of guy in terms of indifference. He’s going to have a blast and he doesn’t care if you’re into it or not.

In this clip, though, everyone is into it.

During a break in the action at a Boston Celtics game, the arena starts playing the relatively unknown Bon Jovi song, “Livin’ On a Prayer.” Somehow, despite it being a deep cut that rarely, if ever, gets any airtime, the fan knows every single word.

And he wants to let the arena know about it.

There are so many good moments here, though I think my favorite thing is watching the fans he interacts with try to guess what kind of gesture he’s going to do with them. He goes in for some hugs and handshakes, and they’re almost always taken off guard.

The ultimate example of this is about halfway through, during the first “livin’ on a prayer” part. This man in a dark gray shirt winds his arm up like he’s aiming for a massive high five, then audibles to prayer hands at the last minute.

Celtics fan recovers smoothly and the two have a real cute moment.

If only we could all be so smooth in our daily lives.