The best soccer celebrations stolen to the NBA

Exultations for a goal scored have always represented a way through which a player can express himself and create his own trademark just like a round shot or a flying stunt. From Cristiano Ronaldo's SIUU to Luca Toni's hand to ear, the way a striker celebrates has become an icon to be used to amplify his image as much as the goals scored on the field. Soccer, however, still has some difficulty in its ability to make players into real brands compared, for example, to American sports where there is much more attention paid to image building. 

So much so that the colorful, iconic and swaggering celebration of the NBA superstars, outsized athletes who, with their oversized personalities, have become so representative that even the best soccer players on the planet have become passionate imitators.

Beto Betuncal - The Silencer

Beto Betucal obviously wasn't the first to imitate LeBron James's most famous exultation, in fact in chronological order he is definitely the last. Before him, athletes of the level of Usain Bolt, Nick Kyrgios and Derrick Henry and among footballers, Chicharito Hernandez and Christian Benteke, the most similar to the Udinese forward, had performed the step with high knees and low palms. 

Performed for the first time by LeBron in 2014 after scoring a triple for the victory at the buzzer in the home of the Golden State Warriors, "The Silencer" has quickly become the move to respond to the whistles of the opposing public. And Beto in fact pulled it out after the two goals scored at short distance in the challenges against Sampdoria and Bologna and never stopped. 

Serge Gnabry - Cooking

One of the most famous crossovers in the celebrations between the parquet and the turf is due to the Bayern Munich winger Serge Gnabry, who got into the habit after each goal to wave his hands in the air as if he was whipping mayonnaise. A celebration borrowed from NBA superstar James Harden, then with the Houston Rockets, who used to simmer his opponents with a long series of dribbles before leaving them on the spot. 

The same elegance and burning speed that Gnabry exhibited in each of his 4 goals in one of the most incredible results in recent history, the 7 to 2 with which Bayern Munich ruled Tottenham at home in Champion's League, and that he celebrated by imitating his favorite basketball player. 

Joaquin Correa - Ice in my vein 

As we have seen after the double against Verona, Joaquin Correa is famous for splitting games by entering from the bench likes to exult after his goals with a mimicry borrowed from the Minnesota Timberwolves' point guard D'Angelo Russell. When he was still at the Los Angeles Lakers Russell became an icon and a meme after a decisive basket pointing to the veins along his arm repeating to have ice instead of blood, a metaphor of his coolness in the hottest moments of the game. 

A celebration that has gone around the world, becoming one of the most used (and abused) ways to express one's icy confidence. Paul Pogba is another who possesses the right charisma not to be a braggart by exulting in this way, but sometimes too much confidence can play a nasty trick. After the amazing goal scored against Switzerland during the last European Championships Pogba has performed the whole reel of exultations including the "Ice in my vein" before being recovered and then eliminated by the Swiss. 

Jorghino - Ice Cold

When Jorghino was still freezing the opponent's goalkeepers with the jump before kicking a penalty, he exulted by bringing his hands to the opposite forearms and miming to warm up. A gesture that just in that moment had become the trademark of Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks' playmaker, who in the NBA playoffs was driving the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers mad. 

The decisive penalty with which Italy beat Spain in the semifinals of last year's European Championships was the perfect moment to shake off the condensation of the moment and celebrate a historic result. An iconic celebration with the eyes of the whole world on him and that has rightly made the rounds of the planet coming up to the direct inspirer who appreciated the dose of courage and coolness shown by the Italian midfielder. 

A celebration that we would like to see again after the two mistakes from the penalty spot in the challenges against Switzerland, perhaps during the play-in in March to go to the World Cup in Qatar. 

Antoine Griezmann - Chalk Toss

Antoine Griezmann is perhaps one of the footballers most obsessed with the NBA world, always finding the moment to crash during games to take a picture with a basketball player and exchange jerseys. A love for basketball that he has expressed over the years in the most creative ways, from challenging Steve Nash to imitating in every aspect the celebrations of NBA superstars. 

The most famous came after a goal in the comfortable victory of Barcelona against Real Betis, a game in which he already knew he had a high chance of scoring so much to agree with a masseur to bring blue confetti with which to replicate the famous LeBron James' Chalk Toss. The practice with which James would get into the game mood by first banging and then throwing talcum powder in the air in front of the scorer's table. An image that has become LeBron's brand, to the point of framing the Cleveland arena after his incredible NBA title victory in 2016, and that Griezmann wanted to include in his NBA fanboy picture gallery.