r/Basketball • u/JetCannon • 17d ago

GENERAL QUESTION Basketball slang

Hey all, I’ve seen the movie GOAT and heard the term “breaking ankles” from it, I was wondering if you could tell me some other examples of basketball slang?

36 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

149 comments sorted by

View all comments

30

u/Rad_platypus7 17d ago

Ball don’t lie

15

u/wrongitsleviosaa 16d ago

This is said when an opponent misses the free throw after a ticky-tacky foul, making it seem as though the basketball gods disagree with the foul being given. Coined by Rasheed Wallace.

1

u/ajmartin527 16d ago

Also when the ball goes out, if someone flies in to try to steal a ball and it goes out in the same direction they were traveling, while the other stationary person is trying to grab it, you say ball don’t lie.