Foul or fun?
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dion Waiters has made a habit of yelling “and one” after every drive he makes to the goal. Some think its annoying and some, like Waiters, think its funny. But does it make any difference in the game?
When Dion Waiters goes home to Philadelphia, he’ll often kick back with friends and play hours of NBA 2K. Inevitably, members of his circle drive to the basket and the Thunder guard hears an all-to-familiar phrase.
“And one,” Waiters said laughing, pumping his fist like a referee calling a foul. “They say that’s what I’m doing all the time. It’s funny, man.”
Waiters barking “and one” is his plea for a free throw after being fouled on a made basket. While Waiters sees the yell as humorous, ESPN analyst Steve Javie, who was an NBA official for 25 years, has another word for it.
“Annoying,” Javie said. “If once in a while somebody did that you wouldn’t mind, but if somebody continually does it, it does become annoying.”
Funny? Annoying? Whatever you consider it, Waiters has developed a habit of screaming and one, yelling it on nearly every make or miss at the rim. The Internet has taken notice. So have his teammates. Yet, the Thunder guard says he’s not stopping any time soon.
And one isn’t some new phenomenon, but in today’s NBA where game highlights are consumed via looping Vine videos and YouTube — where the backboards are mic’ed for sound in many arenas — Waiters, 24, has become the loudest voice.
Waiters thinks he picked up on the phrase from watching And1 Mixtape Tour videos as a kid. Then, he really got into a rhythm of saying it as a junior in high school.
“It’s just a habit now,” said Waiters, who now has videos on YouTube dedicated to him screaming and one.
Does it help or hurt the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder in his pursuit for points?
“It can go either way,” he said. “There were times when I got to the basket, thought I got fouled, I’d make the shot and scream ‘and one’ and I’d get a tech.”
On March 2, Chicago guard Aaron Brooks was given a technical for yelling and one emphatically in the direction of an official after a layup. It was his second tech of the game, and a reminder that the gesture can be costly.
Waiters isn’t trying to show up officials but doesn’t see the harm in an and one.
“It can probably hurt you if they think you’re being disrespectful, saying they missed the call,” Waiters said. “But it’s never a time where I’m trying to call out a ref.
“Why can’t you say and one? It’s the game of basketball. It’s the culture. Everybody screams it. Everybody.”
As an official for more than two decades, Javie said he never encountered players abusing “and one.”
“If he does it all the time, he can’t be getting hit all the time,” Javie said. “My mindset would be ‘well he better really get hit’ because people are gonna be thinking I’m just appeasing to him. It’s almost like The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” (The Man Who Cried And One?)
Count Milwaukee center Greg Monroe among those who gets grief from friends, family and teammates for screaming and one (“All the time. They’re always messing with me about it”). Waiters, on the other hand, said teammates don’t bother him. He’s not the only Thunder player screaming it.
“I think everybody says that when they were little, playing on the basketball court at your house,” Russell Westbrook said. When asked if he yells and one to get fouls called, Westbrook bristled jokingly “maybe Dion yells it but I don’t .”
In a league of hundreds of players screaming the phrase, all signs point back to Waiters. He’s still confused as to how he became the King of the and one. Yet, as he sits on the throne, there’s already an heir on the way.
A proud smile stretches across Waiters’ face as he describes two-year-old Dion Waiters Jr. at home.
Little Dion drives to the mini hoop, scores … then screams ‘and one, Daddy!’ Wonder where he got that from? “Me!” Waiters said beaming. “It’s who I am. If I feel as though I got a foul, I’m getting to the basket, I get bumped or something … and one. And I’m gonna continue to keep saying it.”