On December 4, the Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons 130-120 in a game at the TD Garden in Boston. But it wasn’t the final score that made the biggest news after the game, or even the fact that the Celtics won despite the absence of their superstar player Jayson Tatum, behind 28 points from Jaylen Brown and 26 from center Kristaps Porzingis.
No, the biggest news from the game was generated by Brown not because of the points he scored, but by his celebration after he slammed down a two-handed dunk over the Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart toward the end of the first quarter. That’s when Brown, after a quick stare-down with Stewart, delivered a “throat slashing” celebration gesture, dragging his extended thumb across his own throat in a move that seemed designed to intimidate the opposing player.
“I just got caught up in the moment. Big play,” Brown said after the Pistons game. “I think the NBA and the (Player’s Association) are sensitive about the gestures, so I got to be mindful of that.”
The ‘Throat Slash’ Has Been Banned Since 1999
Brown told the media that he expected to hear from the NBA league office about the gesture. And indeed, he did hear from the league office, in the form of of league head of basketball operations and chief disciplinarian Joe Dumars, who deemed Brown’s throat slashing pantomime an “inappropriate gesture” and slapped the Celtics’ three-time All Star with a $25,000 fine.
The league has banned the “throat slashing” celebration move since 1999. In the National Football League, “throat slashing” celebration moves have been outlawed since 1991.
It was most likely with those rules, and the $25,000 fine, in mind that Brown sent what appeared to be a message to the league on Friday night when the Celtics took on the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden. Coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season — in fact, for the first time since April, toward the end of the 2023-2024 season — Boston came out with fierce determination and simply blew the Pacers off the court. The final score was 142-105, a 37-point margin of victory.
Brown took over the game, pouring in 44 points in the Celtics’ victory, the third-highest point total of his nine-year career. Brown scored 50 against the Orlando Magic on January 2, 2022, and 47 in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks on October 20, 2021.
Brown Finds Way to Defy Throat Slash Ban With No Fine
But after another monster dunk, this one over Pacers All Star guard Tyrese Haliburton, Brown turned to run up the court and raised his thumb to his throat as if to make the “slash” move. And then he stopped. He shook his head and held his hand out, palm down, as if to say that even though the “throat slash” was called for, he would refuse to let the league’s discipline chief fine him again.
“Permanent Grave Digger celebration from now on to avoid fines,” wrote Peach Basket podcast contributor Nik on his social media account, describing Brown’s latest version of the gesture. “Put thumb up to throat like you gonna slash then shake ya head like nah I ain’t gon do it to em.”
Brown was not the first NBA player to be hit in the wallet over the throat slashing gesture. Dwayne Wade, then playing for the Chicago Bulls, was hit with a $25,000 fine for the gesture in 2016. And Kevin Durant, then with the Oklahoma City Thunder, was also fined the same amount in 2013 for making the motion in a 116-97 win over the Golden State Warriors.
After the game, Durant explained himself by saying, “Kill ’em and pray for ’em after the game,” which probably did not help his cause.
