Camera of Shame (kam'-ruh uv shaem) noun. The camera shot of a basketball player or coach's frustrated reaction to a questionable call, embarassing mistake, or humiliating loss.

Usage example: Yao Ming got benched after a couple of cheap fouls, and he was pissed. They caught his reaction on the Camera of Shame.

Word Trivia: I love the Camera of Shame. It's given me some of my happiest moments, like James Worthy flopping around on the floor after a non-call in the 1984 NBA Finals; Bill Laimbeer sitting stunned on the Boston Garden parquet, blood trickling out of his mouth, after Robert Parish clocked him from behind in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals; Detlef Schrempf jumping around like an 8-year-old girl after a call went against him in the first round of the 1992 Eastern Conference playoffs; and last but certainly not least, Kobe Bryant crying after the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals. Good times...good times.

There are so many variations of the CoS shot. There's the stoic "I don't give a crap" reaction, the arrogant "I meant to do that" reaction, the "It's not my fault" denial reaction, the "Yup, that was my bad" reaction, and of course the complete and total meltdown (see The Collected Works of Ron Artest -- thanks mrberg).

Here's a short clip of Yao Ming dropping an F-Bomb after getting benched.


And here's the classic video of Dirk Nowitzki's infamous post-game Blitzkrieg after the Mavericks lost Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals: Dirk drop-kicks a ball into the stands, tries (and fails) to push over an exercise bike, and then karate-kicks a wall. If watching this video doesn't make you happy, then your mom was right: You'll never, ever be happy.


And Lee, you were right: This post wouldn't be complete without at least one Rasheed Wallace freakout.


This one is for starang...watch Brad Miller's reaction.

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