While it’s easy to understand why it’s being interpreted this way, Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels insists he didn’t pretend to make a gun gesture at his former teammates after hitting a three-pointer on Sunday night.
Daniels hit a shot from behind the arc during the Hawks’ 126-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday at the Smoothie King Center. He quickly turned to the Pelicans’ bench and appeared to make a gun gesture while holding out three fingers.
When asked about the moment after the game, Daniels said he “just told them it was worth three points.”
‘It could have looked like this [a gun]but I just told them it was worth 3 points,” Daniels said. “You know, pointing at them all, that’s it. I made sure they all knew how many points it was worth.”
Daniels, who spent his first two seasons in the league with the Pelicans before being traded to the Hawks this past season, was not penalized for the gesture in real time.
‘I didn’t get it [a technical foul]so the referee was right,” he said. “I was just there enjoying it. I was hoping to hit a 3 in that corner so I could let the bank know. It was a race I had circled in my calendar.”
The NBA has fined players for similar gestures in the past. For example, Josh Jackson was fined $35,000 in 2017 for making a “threatening gesture” on the court directed at a fan. The NFL has also cracked down on similar celebrations this season, fining several players for making gun gestures while celebrating. It is unclear whether the NBA will punish Daniels.
Daniels, who the Pelicans took with the No. 8 pick out of Australia in 2022, had 16 points and five rebounds in the Hawks’ win on Sunday night. He is averaging a career-high 13.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game this season.
The win for Atlanta snapped a four-game losing skid and made it 3-4 on the season. The Hawks host the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
