Time is moving by sooooo slowly while we wait for the NBA Finals to start. With that first tipoff on Thursday seeming like decades from now, let’s hit you with some of our favorite off-court NBA stories ⬇️

Today’s Lineup

🤨 The NBA’s Weirdest Pregame Rituals in NBA History

The LeBron chalk toss and the Curry dribble routine are some iconic pre-game rituals that get players dialed in and hyped up for the game. Many NBA players are meticulous about eating the same food, listening to the same songs, and doing the same warmups before games in order to play their best. But we want to tell you about three CRAZY pre-game rituals that highlight the players’ dedication to the game, to superstition, and to flat-out ridiculousness. 

Caron Butler

Caron Butler has two hyper-specific superstitions, both stemming from overconsumption of less than healthy products. The first one is Mountain Dew, as Butler would consume up to two 2-liter bottles before EVERY game! His Washington Wizards banned the drink in 2007 because it was extremely unhealthy for Butler, though they supported him through his “withdrawal” period.

Then Butler switched to a different vice: straws. Yeah, like plastic ones. The star wing chewed a dozen straws before and during games while on the bench. Butler said it calms his nerves and that he preferred McDonalds straws for their “taste and texture.” TNT’s Inside the NBA had Butler blindly taste-test 15 straws and he somehow correctly guessed the McDonalds one!! Watch here to be oddly impressed ⬇️

Jason Terry

The night before every game of his NBA career, Jason Terry would sleep in a pair of the opposing team’s shorts! The ritual started before the 1997 NCAA Championship Game where the night before, Terry and his Arizona Wildcat teammate Mike Bibby were too excited to sleep and so they put on their own uniform shorts. Arizona ended up winning vs Kentucky, so the tradition stuck, but once in the NBA Terry mixed things up by getting into the opponent's head…or rather the opponent’s pants? Nevermind. 

Terry is the most superstitious guy we could find. Every game day he ate a meal which involved chicken. On the court, he was never without his headband or high socks. Plus, if he missed consecutive shots during the first quarter, he would change his sneakers during the next intermission. What a character.

Monta Ellis

Lastly, bonafide bucket-getter Monta Ellis would dunk his hands into hot wax and peel the wax off once it dries before the game. It all started when Ellis tore a ligament in his left ring finger so Ellis used the wax as a way to recover. We don’t know if it genuinely helped, but Ellis’ game was as smooth and fiery as a caldron of hot wax, so we see some connection there 🤔 

🐺 Timberwolves Choose Rudy over TNT

During the NBA Playoffs, Draymond Green has joined TNT’s Inside the NBA as a panelist. We love to see active NBA players capitalizing on their fame and skills to make the leap into media, but seemed that Green was also using the opportunity to criticize Rudy Gobert, whom he has… a history with:

As a result, the Timberwolves boycotted the TNT interview after their Game 4 victory over the Dallas Mavericks to show solidarity with Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, whom they felt were recipients of “derisive and seemingly personal criticism” according to The Athletic. Though Minnesota got bounced in 5 games, we love the sense of brotherhood both on the court and off and we know they’ll be back stronger next year 🤝 

Though he has some haters out there, you can’t knock Kevin Durant’s love of basketball. By all accounts, the man eats, sleeps, and breaths hoops. Apparently, he even thinks of hoops while partying given this image that went viral on Twitter.

Easy Money Sniper stays form shooting in the club, which led to a flurry of memes, our favorite we’ll drop right here 💀. While others are taking shots, KD is taking ankles, and we love that.

Signing Off

And that’s wraps on this installment of Out of Bounds! We’re gonna go do our post-game ritual consisting of drinking THREE bottles of Mountain Dew, wearing our high school basketball shorts, and chomping on a few straws. Peace out ✌️

-Conor Geelan