Jamal Musiala put three fingers to his head after scoring his second goal of the European Championship in Germany’s 2-0 win over Hungary, evoking former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony’s ‘three to the dome’ celebration.
Was it deliberate? We shall see, but the 21-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder is a keen NBA follower (a Golden State Warriors fan) and is pretty talented on a basketball court, too.
He has varied his celebrations, from making an ‘M’ with his hands to bowing or shaking hands, but let’s find out more about that ‘three to the dome’ sign-off…
What is the ‘three to the dome’ celebration?
The interesting thing about the ‘three to the dome’ celebration associated with Anthony is he lifted it from a former team-mate — almost immediately when it was presented in front of him.
The celebration itself came from Rasheed Wallace, who finished his career as a team-mate of Carmelo’s with the New York Knicks in the 2012-13 season. Sheed wasn’t the best 3-point shooter in the world and barely made any (22) in his brief time with the Knicks but his celebration quickly became iconic.
The backstory of the celebration’s origin is that Melo and Sheed were trash-talking during a practice and Wallace started making 3-pointers. He started doing the gesture and was telling Anthony, “that’s three to the dome”. Shortly after, Melo would also do the celebration in games whenever he made a three.
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There are a couple of interpretations of what the “three to the dome” celebration could mean. The nicer version of it is that you have to be aware of Melo (or Sheed) making a 3-pointer. You have to guard them beyond the 3-point line or risk giving up the three points. The not so nice version of it is that it’s mimicking getting shot in the head with a 3-pointer you just gave up to them.
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Who is Jamal Musiala?
Jamal Musiala is a spectacle of a player.
The Bayern Munich midfielder broke into the first team the season after the German club had won the Bundesliga-Pokal-Champions League treble in 2020 and while he has been individually successful, his thunder has been repeatedly stolen.
Whatever the case, he has been allowed to grow somewhat in the dark.
He spent almost a decade in Chelsea’s academy and represented England all the way through the age-group system. But Musiala was born in Stuttgart, Germany, and feels more German, so that’s why he is wearing the shirt of the host nation at Euro 2024.
Stylistically, Musiala is probably most comfortable playing from the left-hand side — out to in, from the edge of the penalty area is where he is most dangerous. His timing in the box is extremely good and he has scored in each of Germany’s first two matches at Euro 2024.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
Who is Carmelo Anthony?
Anthony is a future Hall of Fame player, who was a prolific scorer during the majority of his career. During his first 14 seasons, he averaged 24.8 points per game and won the scoring title in the 2012-13 season.
He was one of the biggest pro prospects coming out of high school and he spent a year at Syracuse University to lead the Orange to an NCAA title in 2003. He was drafted third overall in the 2003 NBA Draft, going after LeBron James (first pick) and Darko Milicic (second pick).
Anthony and James were close, and many believed they were going to be the new version of Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird: two defining talents with different styles of play looking to take over the league. While Melo had a very good career, he never reached the level of LeBron.
Anthony spent his first 7.5 seasons with the Denver Nuggets before getting a trade to the Knicks in 2011. His profile took off even more but the scrutiny of never leading the team close to contending for an NBA championship was also greater.
Melo didn’t really become a 3-point threat on the court until he joined the Knicks and played under coach Mike D’Antoni, who pioneered a lot of the uptempo, high-scoring action we see in the league today.
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As Melo became a 3-point shooter with the Knicks, he took that celebration from Wallace and made it his own. Even though Sheed may have invented it, it belongs to Melo to this day.
Melo finished his 19-year career with 28,289 points, the 10th-most points in NBA history. He also amassed 1,731 3-pointers in his career, which is currently ranked 31st all-time.
Zach Harper
(Top photo: Sebastian El-Saqqa/firo sportphoto/Getty Images)