Flip Saunders Thinks The Big Balls Dance Cost His Team A Championship

After T-Wolves shooting guard Kevin Martin earned himself a $15,000 fine on Monday for doing the Big Balls Dance, a reporter asked Minnesota head coach Flip Saunders what he thought about Martin's display of testicle-based showmanship. Turns out, Flip Saunders is haunted by the Big Balls Dance, because he believes it once cost him a shot at an NBA title.

As we all know, the wonderful dance was invented by former Timberwolves point guard Sam Cassell during Game 7 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals. Flip Saunders was also the coach of that team, and he sees Cassell's dance as the moment his team let the title slip from its grasp. From the Star Tribune:

"We lost a championship by that," Saunders said. "When [Cassell] did that he had an avulsion fracture in his hip. … So, from that perspective, I've always been against that type of thing."

I suppose that's a good reason for Saunders to hate the dance—although who can say for sure exactly when Cassell hurt his hip?—but I'd like to offer the following counterpoint to Saunders:

[ Star Tribune]