Amari Cooper made headlines for a few reasons during the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving victory over the Washington Redskins. He not only had a monster game from a statistical standpoint but also had a touchdown celebration which grabbed plenty of attention. This attention specifically came from NBA fans and backers of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Cooper opted to imitate Sixers guard Markelle Fultz’s new unique free throw from. It features Fultz bobbling the ball while he begins his shot before getting to the top and releasing the attempt. When the Sixers second-year guard originally debuted this, it made headlines quickly based on the struggles he’s had with his shot since last season.
After the game, Cooper was asked about the celebration and as Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News revealed (video per The Checkdown), he didn’t seem to be doing it maliciously.
Amari Cooper on his Markelle Fultz free throw TD celebration: “I don’t know him. I just thought it would be a cool thing to do. I don’t really watch the NBA like that until playoff time. But I’ve seen a couple highlights of him doing it.” t.co/w1kt1h3cui
More on Cooper, per the Dallas Morning News:
“I don’t know him,” said Cooper, who made the shot. “I just thought it would be a cool thing to do. I don’t really watch the NBA like that until playoff time. But I’ve seen a couple highlights of him doing it.”
“I really just thought about it on the fly during this game,” Cooper said. “I was like, ‘If I score, I’ll maybe do that.’ I couldn’t really think of anything else on the fly. … I just made sure I shot the ball far enough to make the free throw.”
For what it’s worth, there’s really no reason to believe Cooper would have any reason to mock Fultz, and his comments make that seem even more likely to be true. The former No. 1 pick didn’t seem to take offense to it either, as he posted a response on social media, as Ball is Life showed (via ESPN).
Markelle Fultz reacts to Amari Cooper doing Fultz’ free throw routine as a TD celebration!
(Via @ESPN, @MarkelleF)
Amari Cooper’s Dominant Game
While Cooper had looked good through his first three games after being acquired by the Dallas Cowboys, he took it up a notch on Thanksgiving. The former Oakland Raiders pass-catcher hauled in eight passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yard touchdown. His two touchdowns also came on back-to-back scores, with a 40-yarder just prior.
Cooper’s excellent game also helped the rest of the offense as well. Both Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott posted impressive stat lines and were solid throughout this game. Prescott threw for 289 yards while scoring three total touchdowns (one rushing) and Elliott tallied 121 rushing yards and one score.
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Cowboys WR Amari Cooper Explains Sixers’ Markelle Fultz Celebration