Courtesy of VIBE.com
When Metta World Peace threw down a thunderous dunk over Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka during Sunday night’s Los Angeles Lakers win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, we knew we’d be seeing highlights of it all day yesterday. But, what we didn’t know was that we’d be seeing it over and over (and over!) again, not because of the actual dunk, but because of the celebration afterwards. Whether you think the player formerly known as Ron Artest did it on purpose or not, World Peace’s celebration involved him cocking his elbow back, running by Thunder guard James Harden, and unloading a vicious elbow to the back of his head. For doing it, he earned a Flagrant 2 foul, an immediate ejection from the game, the scorn of millions of NBA fans, and, of course, a pending suspension from the league.
It’s safe to say that that was not what World Peace intended after he threw down his dunk. He probably had visions of the No. 1 spot on ESPN’s SportsCenter dancing around in his head. But, believe it or not, these kinds of celebratory fails happen more often than you’d probably think. And, to prove it, we put together a list of 10 Sports Celebrations That Went Horribly Wrong. After what he pulled on Sunday night, World Peace is in some pretty bad company with a bunch of other guys who made the highlight reels for all the wrong reasons.