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After a rocky start against the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat is off to an appropriately hot start with a three-game winning streak including Friday’s domination of the Orlando Magic in the new Miami team’s AAA debut. In addition to wracking up wins,they’re also adding some new traditions, including a brand-new hand signal.
The teammates pinch their fingers and thumbs together and raise their arms above their heads like so:
Our first thought was it reminded us of this:
HotHotHoops has the actual origin story:
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The reason the team has started doing it has something to do with [Patrick] Beverley, who is acknowledged as the player who introduced it to the team, but he is tight-lipped about it.
“It’s part of our secret society,” joked Beverley. “I grew up doing it, but the rest? No comment. Let’s just leave it at that.”
He will say that he started it up with his good friend Anthony Mason Jr. during training camp and that it’s caught on like wildfire among his teammates. Though the trick is to make someone look at essentially nothing, Beverley is adamant in that he wants it to spread across Miami. Maybe it’ll catch on like the fake rats did during the Florida Panthers postseason run more than a decade ago.
So what does it actually mean?
The Score says it’s basically a strike at the haters and shit-talkers, meaning “shut your mouth.” Miami is not really a town that tends to value silence, but for once, we wish the haters would shut it.
P.S. Does anyone remember the Panthers’ fake rats? Does anyone remember when the Panthers were good enough to make the playoffs? Does anyone remember the Panthers?
