Evolution of a Taunt

[Kansas Ref]

Recently I have observed that sometimes players who complete a well-contested but successful "try for goal" in the post will make a gesture: briefly stooping while holding their hand open faced to the ground /floor. I've even seen shorter players do this on taller players recently when I played pickup games at the park. I've only seen it maybe twice in my NF games this past season; however, I m sure this gesture will increase in frequency as it appears to be gaining traction in basketball culture. Would it be a stretch to start calling this gesture "taunting" and penalize it as such or should it be ignored and just let the kids have fun? From what I can tell so far, this gesture has elicited amusement rather than malcontent from the defender.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Kansas Ref

Recently I have observed that sometimes players who complete a well-contested but successful "try for goal" in the post will make a gesture: briefly stooping while holding their hand open faced to the ground /floor. I've even seen shorter players do this on taller players recently when I played pickup games at the park. I've only seen it maybe twice in my NF games this past season; however, I m sure this gesture will increase in frequency as it appears to be gaining traction in basketball culture. Would it be a stretch to start calling this gesture "taunting" and penalize it as such or should it be ignored and just let the kids have fun? From what I can tell so far, this gesture has elicited amusement rather than malcontent from the defender.

It's been going on for a few years now and has been penalized at times.

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[MechanicGuy]

It's all about context. It can be playful and not worth addressing - or it can be instigating and require our attention.