Minnesota Timberwolves guard Kevin Martin paid tribute to Sam Cassell with a toned-down version of Cassell's infamous Big Balls Dance after knocking down a clutch three against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. Martin was fined $15,000 for the "obscene gesture," and Wolves head coach Flip Saunders wasn't too thrilled with the homage.
Sam Cassell’s Big Balls Dance cost Timberwolves a title, says Flip Saunders
Saunders says Cassell hurt himself doing his signature dance and that was a reason why the Wolves lost to the Lakers in the 2004 Western Conference Finals.
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
That’s because Saunders claims Cassell injured his hip doing the dance and cost Minnesota a shot at a championship, according to Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
Cassell did the dance after knocking down a big shot against the Sacramento Kings in Game 7 of the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals. The Wolves won the series, but ultimately fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the Western Conference Finals.
Cassell was excellent in the first two series of that postseason, but he missed two games and barely played in two others against Los Angeles. Cassell averaged 9.3 points and 2.5 assists while shooting 43.3 percent in the series, and Saunders thinks things may have turned out differently if his point guard was healthy:
“We lost a championship by that,” Saunders said. “When [Cassell] did that he had an avulsion fracture in his hip. ... So, from that perspective, I’ve always been against that type of thing.”
Who knows if Cassell actually injured himself doing the dance. Perhaps Saunders is just making a convenient excuse. But if it’s true, that makes this origin story even more legendary.
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