THE FINGER-ROLL

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has his skyhook, Magic Johnson has his no-look pass and Julius Erving has his gravity-defying slams. But the smoothest signature move in NBA history belongs to George Gervin, who has that cool finger-roll lay-up. The “Iceman”, who is one of the greatest scoring machines in NBA and ABA history, actually mastered the shot accidentally.
 
“I didn’t invent it. I had seen others do it, like Wilt (Chamberlain) and Julius (Erving). When I first started, I was a dunker. But I broke my wrist during a game once trying to block a shot, by Julius in fact. I fell and landed on my wrist, so once it got better, I couldn’t dunk. So, I finger-rolled.
 
Because not everyone can do it. That is why, in the end, I liked it so much more than dunking. Everyone can dunk, but not many people can finger roll.”