NBA star Stephen Curry reacts to Dembele’s goal celebration

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry’s influence has now made its way to the world’s best soccer field.

The NBA’s greatest shooter posted on Wednesday a photo of Ousmane Dembele shared by FC Barcelona of Spain Primera Liga, saying, “A movement!” In the photo was Dembele mimicking Curry’s “night-night” celebration with the message “A midsummer night’s dream.”

The photo was first posted on FC Barcelona’s Twitter and Dembele’s Instagram on Wednesday, which went viral with Curry’s fans leaving comments that his gesture was just like Curry’s signature celebration, finally catching the basketball star’s attention.

FC Barcelona played against Juventus of Italy in the 2022 preseason at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas on the day, being held to a 2-2 draw. The French winger scored two stunning solo goals for the team and each time he brought out Stephen Curry’s iconic pose.

The Golden State Warriors star’s ‘night-night’ celebration is a gesture to put a damper on the audience cheering the home players at an away match or discourage the opposing team. As there are always countless ups and downs in each team's performance during 48 minutes of the four-quarter game, not only players’ skills but also their gestures to reverse the momentum of the match hold significance. Curry does this sleeping gesture whenever the game is all over bar the shouting or he makes a 3-pointer bringing momentum to his team, to say “The game is over, so good night.” Last month, he uploaded a photo of himself making the gesture with the champion trophy on his Instagram after beating Boston in the final for the championship.

Making 3,117 3-pointers over the course of his career, Stephen Curry is a superstar who is highly recognized for changing the basketball paradigm. He is also called ‘Jordan shooting 3-pointers,’ referring to Michael Jordan, the king of basketball of all time. Curry’s gesture doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon with even soccer athletes in the most high-profile teams pulling it out.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com