The 25 Most Disrespectful Sports Celebrations of All Time (Video)

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Date: 5/20/1995
Sport: NBA
Athlete: Mario Elie
Taunting: Phoenix Suns
After coming back from being down 3-1 in the series, Elie delivered this dose of ether to the Phoenix Suns and sealed Game 7 for the Rockets. Muah! ©Jadakiss

Date: 5/13/1997
Sport: NBA
Athlete: Michael Jordan
Taunting: Dikembe Mutombo
It's a basic rule of celebrating: If you take the time to develop a signature move, be prepared for opponents to throw it back in your face when they get the chance (see: Tebowing). As Dikembe Mutombo got older and got dunked on more, he got on the receiving end of more finger wags than he dished out.

Date: 2/23/2001
Sport: MMA
Athlete: Tito Ortiz
Taunting: Evan Tanner
Sometimes things imitated in sports can hit a bit too close to home. After winning his fight by KO, Tito created an elaborate celebration that included mock burying his opponent Evan Tanner. Sadly and ironically, Tanner would later die seven years later while on a trip in the desert. #rip #shitjustgotreal

Date: 3/12/1995
Sport: College Basketball
Athlete: Randolph Childress
Taunting: Jeff McInnis
The humiliation of getting your ankles broken in front of millions of people is bad enough. But when the guy that crosses you takes some time to embarrass you even further with a wave before hitting the jumper, then you need to retreat to the nearest rock to hide under and never be heard from again.

Date: 6/6/2001
Sport: NBA
Athlete: Allen Iverson
Taunting: Tyronn Lue
Part celebration, part "Hey, I'm just getting back on defense," A.I.'s skip over Lue was as subtle a gesture as you'll see on this list. Subtlety from Allen Iverson? Must be all that practice.

Date: 11/20/2011
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Maurice Jones Drew
Taunting: Cleveland Fans
Just last week, Maurice Jones-Drew taunted Cleveland fans by mimicking Northern Ohio's Public Enemy No. 1, LeBron James, and his pre-game powder toss. Little would Jones-Drew know at the time, but his coach, Jack Del Rio, would take the LeBron impersonation one step further by making MJD disappear in the fourth quarter of the game, a Browns win.

Date: 10/30/2011
Sport: Football
Athlete: Stephen Tulloch
Taunting: Tim Tebow
Look, if you're going to wear eye black with Bible verses on it, be the most maligned player in the league, and have your own celebration that involves you dropping to one knee in prayer, you've got to expect your opponents to mock said celebration. And, if you're Tim Tebow, you probably don't care, since, this game against Detroit aside, you're winning more than Charlie Sheen this year.

Date: 6/10/2002
Sport: Soccer
Athlete: Ahn Jung-Hwan
Taunting: Apolo Anton Ohno and Team USA
During the 2002 World Cup, the Korean men's soccer team weren't about to drop a game to team USA and this game-tying goal by Ahn Jung-Hwan prevented it. But Jung-Hwan wasn't done there. He also used his goal celebration to take shots at Apolo Ohno's controversial DQ win over a fellow Korean in Salt Lake City. If dude's trying to make sure all Americans hate him, taking aim at athletes from multiple sports is definitely the way to go.

Date: 9/10/2009
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Justin Gage
Taunting: Fan
Nearly every fan's dream is to have get a game ball from one of the players on the field. This fan thought this dream was coming to fruition until Justin Gage pulled the ultimate douche-move. Only two years later Gage is now out of the league and looking for a job. Karma's a biatch!

Date: 10/31/2004
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Terrell Owens
Taunting: Ray Lewis
If you do a list of NFL players that you DO NOT want to attempt to punk under any circumstances, Ray Lewis is top 5, dead or alive. Even in his later years, dude's name is pretty much synonymous with intimidation. So, why T.O. thought it was a good idea to mock that pre-game dance Ray does we have no clue. Maybe it was the fact that Philly was 6-0 and Owens knew that all he had to do was avoid going over the middle the last few minutes of the game? We still don't know. Smart? Nope. But entertaining and disrespectful? Yup.

Date: 1/1/1992
Sport: College Football
Athlete: Mario Bailey
Taunting: Desmond Howard
Everyone recognizes Desmond Howard's Heisman-pose celebration. It's iconic and pretty badass. But people forget that only a few weeks later the Washington Huskies routed the Wolverines 34-14 at the Rose Bowl and that Mario Bailey delivered this bit of ether to Dez, who had been shut down the entire game. If this were a list of the best celebrations, Dez would have this spot but it's most disrespectful so Mario gets to shine.

Date: 5/20/1994
Sport: NBA
Athlete: Scottie Pippen
Taunting: Patrick Ewing
MJ was on hiatus from basketball but that didn't mean someone from the Bulls wasn't sonning the Knicks. Scottie Pippen delivered one of the most vicious slams in NBA history then proceeded to stunt on Patrick Ewing with the epic stare down while standing over the center. Yup, doesn't get much worse than looking up at another man's balls when they just took your own set from you.

Date: 10/30/2005
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Steve Smith
Taunting: Fred Smoot
Renting yachts, flying in prostitutes, and having big orgies on these boats during the season with 16 of your teammates in front of boat crew members is pretty reckless. The fact that Steve Smith made light of the situation after burning Fred Smoot isn't nearly as reckless but supremely badass. Remember young'ns, life vests and other forms of protection are essential.

Date: 9/12/2009
Sport: Soccer
Athlete: Emmanuel Adebayor
Taunting: Arsenal Fans
After scoring the goal that put the dagger in the collective hearts of Arsenal and their loyal followers, former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor went straight to the fans and took everything they had to offer. Because in the end, the taste of revenge is so, so sweet.

Date: 11/19/2011
Sport: College Football
Athlete: Robert Woods
Taunting: LeBron James
Yeah, we all heard about MJD's powder toss a week ago but Robert Woods' rendition was even more epic for a few reasons: 1. It came a day earlier than MJD's 2. Bron Bron was in the building 3. USC actually won the game. With LeBron James on the Oregon sideline in support of Nike, Woods played the King as his team went onto crush any hopes the Ducks had of a national title. And this is yet another reason why college football >>> NFL.

Date: 4/3/1999
Sport: Soccer
Athlete: Robbie Fowler
Taunting: Media
Some shots can be subtle and others can be blatantly obvious. After Robbie Fowler scored on a penalty kick, he went to the ground and insinuated that he was snorting cocaine. This celebration was in response to the media creating rumors that Fowler was, at the time, using drugs. Afterwards, then-manager Gérard Houllier defended his player stating that he was merely imitating "a cow eating grass." Right...GTFOH.

Date: 1/9/2005
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Randy Moss
Taunting: Green Bay Packer Fans
Here are two things we know: 1. Randy Moss is an asshole, but also very funny at times. 2. Joe Buck is annoying as shit, and hasn't been funny, ever. After mooning the Green Bay faithful in the '04 playoffs, Moss explained that he was only returning the gesture they'd given him as the Minnesota bus pulled up to Lambeau that day. But we know he was really just trying to prove our points above.

Date: 4/30/1992
Sport: NBA
Athlete: Shawn Kemp
Taunting: Alton Lister
As public humiliations go, Shawn Kemp's guns up cha-cha-cha on Alton Lister ranks among the best. As semi-public humiliations go, Shawn Kemp's descent into drug abuse, obesity, and multiple baby-momma dramas is up there, too. We know which we'd prefer.

Date: 10/27/2007
Sport: College Football
Athlete: Georgia Bulldogs
Taunting: Florida Gators
Typically coaches shun excessive celebrations but Georgia coach Mark Richt said fuck all that and sent the entire bench out onto the field after a first-quarter TD in the Bulldogs rivalry game against Florida. Of course stiff-ass announcers found it offensive, to that we say: FOH! We loved it and the fact that the Bulldogs went onto win 42-30 makes it even better. Soundtrack, please! (SMH, if you thought we'd link that Baha Men track.)

Date: 1/1/1991
Sport: College Football
Athlete: Randall Hill
Taunting: Texas Longhorns
If Yosemite Sam were a football player who could run faster than the Millenium Falcon in hyperspace and actually won something, this is how he'd celebrate. On New Year's Day '91, the Miami Hurricanes were out of the national title picture, and took their frustrations out on the Texas Longhorns in an epic ass-whooping that set a bar for team-wide disrespect that hasn't been matched since. Got guns? We got guns, too.

Date: 10/16/1994
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Deion Sanders
Taunting: Atlanta Falcons
Jesus Christ. Do sonnings get any better than this in sports? In his first game at the Georgia Dome since joining the 49ers, Deion completely shitted on his former team on their own turf. First he destroyed Andre Rison, then Deion turned that anger into an impressive 93-yard interception return off of Jeff George. #getoffme #stunt101 #guesswhosback

Date: 11/27/2011
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Stevie Johnson
Taunting: Plaxico Burress
TD celebrations can get personal from time to time, but rarely does it reach the levels of disrespect seen on Sunday. Stevie Johnson mockingly shot himself after a TD, making light of an embarrassingly painful event in Plax's life when he accidentally shot himself in a New York nightclub and subsequently had to serve two years in prison. But Burress got the last laugh as he scored a TD only minutes later and his team got the W. At the end of the day, Plax still has a Super Bowl ring and plays in one of the best cities while Johnson is a seventh-rounder stuck on the 5-6 Bills in Buffalo. Yes, shots fired.

Date: 1/1/1994
Sport: NBA
Athlete: Reggie Miller
Taunting: Spike Lee and Knicks Fans
Ah, the moment Reggie Miller became known as "The Bad Guy." The infamous choke sign after a 39-point performance (25 of which came in the fourth quarter) in Game 5 of the '94 Eastern Conference Finals was all it took for Reggie to be forever hated by Knicks fans. Sidebar: Spike egging him on didn't help much. STFU, will ya?!

Date: 3/10/2007
Sport: NHL
Athlete: Donald Brashear
Taunting: Brendan Witt
As the enforcer, Donald Brashear was never used to scoring goals. That may explain why Brashear chose to celebrate this rare goal by doing what he does best: punch out somebody on the opposing team. Hey, what are you gonna do? Old habits die hard.

Date: 9/24/2000
Sport: NFL
Athlete: Terrell Owens
Taunting: Dallas Cowboys
Prior to September 24, 2000, Terrell Owens was Terrell Owens, a very talented young wide receiver best known for catching a game-winning touchdown in the '98 playoffs. But after celebrating not once but twice on the star at Texas Stadium, Terrell Owens became T.O. And the world hasn't been the same since.