Over the course of the last few decades, the rise in popularity of the NBA has spread like wildfire across the world.
The famous basketball league doesn’t have fans inclusive of just the USA or across North America, but all across the world.
A lot more sports fans are watching the NBA now than they did before the turn of the new century.
With the power of social media, the NBA has been able to attract more fans by releasing eye-catching clips that can attract people into the game.
Not just the regular TV-watching sports fans, but sportspeople themselves have also been enticed by the eye-catching factor of the NBA superstars.
A big example of a major footballer being inspired by the NBA would be France’s World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann.
The Atletico Madrid forward is a big fan of basketball, especially the wicked celebrations that some quality basketball players pull off in the NBA.
In fact, after scoring his first-ever goal for Barcelona, he did the famous Lebron James ‘chalk’ celebration where he took some chalk in his hands and sprayed them in the air before some games.
Griezmann replicated that by having a Barca staff member bring him some glitter and then just spray it in the air to give a cinematic touch to his celebrations.
Bayern Munich forward Serge Gnabry is also a big fan of NBA star James Harden – having replicated his trademark cooking celebration after scoring many goals.
But it’s not just the most famous footballers who are into imitating famous NBA celebrations.
Recently, Burnley players Nathan Tella and Michael Obafemi also recreated a trademark NBA celebration move in their 1-1 draw against Watford in the EFL Championship game.
Burnley appeared to be on the verge of suffering their first loss since being defeated by Manchester United in the Carabao Cup on December 22. Watford scored the opener through Joao Pedro and looked destined to take points away from Turf Moor.
However, substitute Obafemi had other plans.
He scored a 95th-minute equalizer to break the Hornets’ hearts and help Burnley salvage one point as well as keep their undefeated streak alive. What they did after scoring the goal has gone viral because of how epic it looked.
Immediately after scoring, Obafemi linked up with his fellow forward, Tella, to recreate a famous NBA celebration.
The two started to point at each other from a distance and shake their heads from left to right – replicating the trademark celebration of NBA star Mikal Bridges.
The 26-year-old played for the Phoenix Suns from 2018–2023 before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets earlier this month.
The small forward recorded a career-high 45 points in his side’s win over the Miami Heat on February 15.
Well, it appears that Tella and Obafemi are both big fans of Bridges and played a tribute to him by replicating his celebration.
The NBA star debuted this celebration during his time with the Suns, often doing it with Chris Paul during his time with the franchise.
This awesome little tribute from the Burnley duo is another proof that the NBA is getting more popular among footballers – which means we can see such iconic NBA celebrations replicated more in professional football often going forward.
