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Come Fan with UsThursday, August 6, 2026

Jordan Poole’s new celebration is NBA’s best bad taunt

Jordan Poole’s new celebration is both bad and good at the same time, just like him.

Ricky O'Donnell
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.

The Denver Nuggets suffered the worst loss for any team this season over the weekend when were on the wrong end of the Washington Wizards snapping the NBA’s longest losing streak. Washington had lost 16 straight games entering Saturday night against the Nuggets, and Denver was still a big favorite despite missing Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon with injuries.

Nikola Jokic did his part, finishing with 56 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the Nuggets struggled while Denver’s defense was non-existence, giving the Wizards a rare win, 122-113. It was Washington’s first victory since Oct. 30.

Jordan Poole was the big star for the Wizards, popping off for 39 points. In the process, Poole also created the best terrible celebration we’ve seen from an NBA player this season. Poole is either trying to say “my game is stinky” (complimentary) or he’s pantomiming Denver’s defense drowning in a Poole. Either way, this is hilarious. Watch the celebration here:

While “the Nuggets are drowning in the Poole party” is the most fun read on this celebration, it seems more likely he’s channeling the stinky face we’ve seen from other superstar guards before. At the same time, the hand placement does give some plausibility to the idea that he was going for the “drowning” celebration. Read into this however you want, because it’s great either way.

Honestly, that’s a nasty step-back that poor Christian Braun had no chance stopping. We have clowned Poole a lot on this website since his move to the Wizards before last season, but he’s still a really good scorer when he’s locked in. Denver caught Poole at his best, and he helped deliver them a terrible loss.

The Wizards have to be the front-runners in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes right now even if that hardly guarantees them the No. 1 overall pick. Washington is due for a lot of losses before this season is mercifully over, but at least they can hang their hat on this win, and Poole’s hilarious celebration.

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