With just under three minutes left in Game 7 between the Warriors and Houston Rockets on Sunday, Buddy Hield let his eighth 3-pointer of the night roll off his fingertips and through the basket.
Steph Curry and Draymond Green erupted and then both hit the "night night." Jimmy Butler roared. And Buddy, still a few points shy of his eventual game-high 33, galloped on an imaginary horse down the sideline at Toyota Center after a dagger triple that guaranteed Golden State's victory.
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WATCH HERESo, where did the hilarious dance start? Hield and former longtime teammate Tyrese Haliburton, whom he played with on both the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, crafted the comical celebration.
"We call it the 'Bao Bao Bao,' " Hield explained Monday to Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky on 95.7 The Game's "The Morning Roast." "It's a long story. So me and Tyrese Haliburton, he came in one day ... It was a TikTok and I was always hitting him with the 'Bao Bao Bao.'
"And then we just started, every time we'd shoot a three it was like, 'Bao Bao Bao.' And after that, there's a dance where you just lock your legs from New Orleans. I just thought of adding that dance to that and we were just having fun with it.
"It's never left me. So every time I go out or around people or whatever, I just hit the 'Bao Bao Bao.'"
Golden State Warriors
The popular TikTok sound influenced Hield to add a dance that goes along with it, and the gallop was born. It has followed him to the Warriors, where he even has gotten his teammates and the coaching staff involved -- but not everyone is up for the silly gesture.
"Before every pregame, we hit the 'Bao Bao Bao,'" Hield continued. "I got to get everybody in the middle. Even the coaches hit it today. Steve [Kerr] hit it last night, [assistant coach] Terry Stotts is really good at hitting the 'Bao Bao Bao.' Draymond is still shy hitting the 'Bao Bao Bao.' Steph has hit it. Jimmy hasn't hit it yet, but we can get Jimmy to hit it."
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Dub Nation certainly will be waiting on that last one with bated breath, and maybe Hield's friendly "nemesis" Butler will pull it out in a big moment during the Warriors' first Western Conference semifinal game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday at Target Center.
