2014: Team USA is forced to watch The Haka and then beats New Zealand by 30 points
Ah, I see it’s time to farm karma with this video again.
This is the first time I’ve seen this TBH. Just saw it on twitter and it made me laugh. I didn’t live in the US back when this happened so might be why
Never feel bad for not being a terminally online dweeb like the person you’re responding to is
5k karma for a month old account? And I’m the one terminally online? Stones in glass houses and all that Jazz.
Edit: you also have 927 contributions in one month. That’s approximately 31 per day or 1.3 per hour for an entire month. Don’t self project yourself onto me.
It’s a 12 year old clip, you don’t have to be terminally online to have seen this video multiple times.
Dont worry op, i also didnt realize this was commonly posted lol. Ive seen this maybe once or twice before in my life.
Haka videos peaked like 14 years ago on the internet
Top 1% commentator on nba sub but has never seen this. Riiiight.
It’s a super temporary tag, he could just be spree posting for a day
Maybe, but I am definitely pro irrationally hating on it
Redditors go nuts whenever a haka is posted.
Arrrgghhhhh I’m fuckin goin nuts!
Like moths to a flame
They used to love it when it love it when I was posted first like 10 years ago now everyone just finds it meme ish
“I’m not scared” says a 16 year old who can’t watch Finding Nemo without shitting his pants
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gDvZbqoSHX4/maxresdefault.jpg
muhfuckers when they pull up to the anglerfish
I hadn’t seen it before lol
https://xkcd.com/1053/
I’ve never seen this, and I found it entertaining/interesting
You should be embaressed by how much time you spend on reddit
Your account is 7 years older. But, sure.
Not everyone lives here
30 day old account with 500+ contributions? You live on reddit, apparently. Try again, noob.
And I’ve never complained about a repost.
Take your amateur moderator badge off, we’re not impressed.
Apparently, 250+ people were impressed. GG no re, lil man.
Damnit, I missed my chance. Was supposed to be my turn /s
The confused faces lmao
Hardens face kills me
That’s just his normal face.
That’s his resting “this ain’t a strip club” face
Literally how he always looks. Resting confused face.
👁️👄👁️
It needs Draymond so bad though
I’m gonna take a wild guess that his mouth was open
Same lol. That’s the definitive face of “wtf is happening”
He doesn’t have internet, so he has no idea what’s going on.
He’s just confused at the idea of anyone showing any level of intensity
Team USA: 👁️👄👁️
They applauded afterwards. But that got clipped.
Usually do, yeah
Reddit just posting what was trending on x 2 days ago lol
Every social media eats each other. AskReddit comments are reposted to Twitter, those are screenshotted and put on Instagram with some music behind it, and then that is posted to a subreddit.
ask Reddit comments are also reposted to ask Reddit.
There’s only so many questions
This video is posted every week
Literally the last time was 3 years ago if you do a search.
I saw posted this year 100%
“Reddit” is not only this subreddit
Idk if it’s the best thing to get on a high horse about, when the last time something was trending on whatever social media platform and which platform is copying which, but I’m also here so fuck it, we’re all morons
Ah, seems like it was just last week
A tale as old as the site itself
it shows the demographics of reddit. boomer dudes who are 2 weeks behind the newest jokes and trends
reddit is the new Facebook
Yeah but this way I don’t have to accidentally open x
Well understandable. Like when does the poetry start?
Love the Haka , however in a sport you don’t get to tackle people it’s a little strange
You mean don’t right?
Hahah yep fixed
Thanks buddy
Haka is an amazing cultural practice. It denotes respect for the opponent while also serving as a hype tool.
Doesn’t matter that they lost. The haka is auto respect in my book
Remember this. Think Steph took a shot right after to make sure his shot was still going in. LOL
you weren’t lying 🤣
And the clapping too. “Wow that was cool guys”
Immediately scared checking to so if it worked, like my toddler saying his bedroom with lights off is “too spooky” and I gotta show him it’s not scary but turning the lights on real quick
He trynna make sure they didn’t use no voodoo magic on they asses
Steph Curry’s three point shooting is voodoo magic, that man made a deal with the devil
Fantastic book
[removed]
I honestly thought they only did it for rugby. The rugby dudes do it better anyways. They go fucking hard. These guys didn’t really bring it. Probably helps that the rugby team dominates and are all a bunch of fucking tanks.
Edit: also, rugby is fucking awesome and I wish it were more popular in the USA
I’m not even kidding, I’ve seen a Haka performed for a cubing competition recently.
Are you saying there was a person doing a solo Haka right before solving a Rubik’s cube
I love that cubing is still going. I got into it in like 2006, and it’s boomed since then, even if I haven’t followed it much since the early 2010s.
Wtf is cubing?
Head to head rubix cube speedrunning.
I have never solved a rubix cube, I only ever went because my cousin was in a national competition. Shit is actually real hype though
It’s not a competition of who does it better lol. It’s just a tradition, their women teams do it too, you not gonna compare how good they’re at it aren’t you?
Anyway I’m sure standing infront of Team USA and still having to do it for tradition probably made them weak anyway.
The men and women do it for every sporting competition.
Haka ain’t for skinny guys
i am pretty sure this was around the time the haka videos were going viral, and it was always super cool with the rugby players.
then i saw this, and i think everyone i knew’s face looked just like james harden. including myself.
Rugby is just football but worse there is no reason to want it other than eurofetishism
Bro, what is wrong with you?
When they switched to harden I lost it lmao
I feel like there’s only a miniscule chance that Rose or Harden have ever even heard of the Haka before that day. Imagine how confusing this would be to see the faces of the opponent with zero context. Lol.
Honestly it’s hard to recognize to begin with… I’ve only seen their rugby team do it and watching the long bois try their hand is a totally different vibe lol
Doesn’t NZ haka on the world stage at the olympics? I wanna say I’ve seen team sports do it before the game, and even individuals do it after winning a metal.
There’s a non-zero chance they have never heard about New Zealand before that day
“I never even heard what happened to old Zealand…”
Derrick Rose and Harden were the best possible choices. Maximum “the fuck is this bullshit.”
Intentionally disrespectful camera work.
Derrick Rose looks like he got flashbacks to the 2012 ASG
Bro is secretly a comedian
soon as i saw “haka” in the title in this subreddit my immediate thought was “james 👁️👄👁️ harden”
Harden knows dance routines
“You think the Haka’s gonna help you when you gotta guard Steph?”
Is the Haka gonna matter on judgment day?
I imagine doing the Haka for God would be a lot like doing it for Druski.
Could have used Stephen Adams, or even Valerie tbh
This comment genuinely made me tilt my head back and guffaw.
Skipped the part with all the USA players clapping at the end
100 percent, OP talking about forced to watch. What an uncultured swine.
Average American
r/AmericaBad
yeah most people in general are pretty ignorant but its not just a US thing
Yes
Oh boy here we go
“Why is the team of basketball demi-gods not intimidated by our fierce performance 💅”
Steph literally took a shot after to make sure it was still going in. At the very least he was startled.
[deleted]
Wish Team USA would’ve gone into Thriller.
Holy shit
Team Mexico with the Macarena
Macarena isn’t even Mexican
But it would have been funny!
The Harlem shake
This is way scarier in rugby but aside that I always found it so funny that teams are expected to just have this pretty intense ritual performed directly at them and then there’s no rebuttal. They just go to their sidelines and start the game
I believe Team USA clapped at the end. Respectful and insanely disrespectful at the same time.
This is hilarious
Teams definitely do respond, when they have a way to respond within their culture. Quite a few south Pacific cultures have a similar pre game rituals
Ya definitely true, I should specify western world teams. Like I went to an All-Blacks vs USA rugby game in DC years ago where there’s no rebuttal, then NZ beat the US 109-9
That was also their C-Team. But hey! We didnt get shut out! Also FedEx is a dump of a stadium
Its the all blacks man. If you get to stand across from them watching them perform the haka you sit back and enjoy it.
See this is the thing about the haka. If you can do that stuff and then you’re one of the best in the world, it looks awesome. If you do all that and then you get obliterated, you just look like a bunch of tryhard dorks.
Quite a few rugby teams have rebutted the hoka in their own way by approaching, laughing at it etc. It happens a ton when you get to the semi finals or finals against the all blacks
Yeah and World Rugby have forbidden most of these.
France was a big fan of answering to the haka like that but now getting close is forbidden, approaching is forbidden etc…
Which sucks because no in NZ even wants that.
The approaches are awesome
They respond by kicking the shit out of them in basketball lol
If we make everyone else stand for the national anthem, I think we can allow a haka
The basketball teams haka isnt like a war dance meant to strike fear in the opponent. It’s supposed to be meant as a reminder to honor their past, present and future for one, and has more, deeper meanings.
Is that why they seem to be doing it AT the other team?
Still dumb
A lot more meaningful than tailgating, punching eachother on black friday and watching a groundhog predict the weather, I’ll tell ya that.
Huh?
they got a real nasty past to wanna honor
It looks dumb af, no shade.
That feels like shade
So cry
I’m sure they don’t care and it’s not about looking cool either.
Well thank god cuz they certainly don’t.
Think a really good way to honor it is to actually leave it in the past. Forcing things like this in a modern setting just doesn’t resonate well with most people.
If you’re trying to get into more broad national discourse, the USA is obviously a modern country. It doesn’t have the individual rituals/customs that other nations with lengthier histories do. Those nations are more receptive to stuff like this because they probably have something similar that they’ve clung onto as well on the basis of tradition.
My individual opinion on it is that certain customs are just best left for the periods/eras they were developed for. If the USA, for example, randomly decided to start doing something similar to this in the modern age, how do you think it would be received? They would 100% be clowned for it. The action in and of itself isn’t well-received but people choose to respect it/look the other way on the basis of history.
It resonates well with me just fine.
I find it awkward that one person of some culture would tell a whole other group of people how to conduct themselves. It’s the opposite of having manners, and frankly it’s quite gauche.
Is this not what people do all the time? Every culture/nation has their own quirks and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people stating their own opinions on a forum LITERALLY dedicated to doing just that.
For example, the US obviously gets a ton of flack for stubbornly holding onto it’s imperial measuring system and even as an American, I think it’s objectively unwise and doesn’t make much sense.
That’s ultimately my point. There are certain things that every nation has clung onto unnecessarily and you can honor your history/culture without actively employing it in the present.
Not even remotely scary. Id be afraid of laughing but thats about it
In rugby it’s a bit scary cause it’s being performed by absolute physical monsters who are on also arguably the best team in the world, and the sport revolves around physicality
Less scary here cause most if not all of the NZ team are semi-pros, and are gonna get stomped
Rugby Haka is genuinely impressive. Doesn’t quite hit the same on a tiny basketball court with a smaller crowd done by relatively skinny dudes.
The broadcasts do a great job with the microphones for the haka and the crowd always gets quiet to hear it. It’s amazing in rugby.
The best rugby team now is south africa. But everythingh else is correct
Sick dude do you struggle getting through doorways with those huge balls or is a turn to the side deal
Put one through at a time
If they respond any other way than that they get accused of bigotry or disrespect. You are supposed to watch and be sufficiently intimidated.
Not true, both the French and the English have formed a side by side line and walked right up to the AB’s faces and stared them down in a ‘challenge accepted’ kinda way before. It was hype af and a perfect response.
Yeah and it’s not allowed anymore, England was punished for that at the last World Cup
As New Zealanders, we welcome it, think it’s just world rugby over reacting
Worth watching Ma’a Nonu’s solo response haka from this year.
Hell yeah, this ruled
As a retort, I expected Chinese teams to bow to them three times, and once to their coaching staff.
No team mates popping out from underneath a paper mache dragon?
Any team is welcome to a rebuttal, they just don’t have any similar form of cultural performance so they have nothing to offer. As u/Lemonade_IceCold mentioned, there are a number of teams in the Pacific across a variety of sports that have their own pre-game cultural displays. First nations teams from Australia have also done similar, and I am sure if NZ ever played against a Native American/Canadian team, they would be more than welcome to perform their own display of culture and heritage.
Just walk up and flip them off, that seems like a pretty accurate display of American culture and heritage particularly in relation to native populations lmao
Ive seen countless videos of women in business attire do this.
Its not scary, its over
Sounds like a pretty niche algo
there’s no need for rebuttal it’s not a rap battle.
The Haka is a Kiwi tradition they do for all sporting events. If team USA wanted to do a rebuttal they could do the pledge of allegiance or something
Maybe a diorama of the middle easy and light it on fire, maybe
Mãori tradition
The Haka works in Rugby because 1. The All Blacks are genuine beasts. 2. The Commonwealth/rugby connection means there’s a deeper understanding between commonwealth nations, and appropriate etiquette for cultural expression.
Having a bunch of skinny, lanky dudes perform this ritual to a country with no understanding or respect for it is obviously going to look cringey.
The main thing is that they suck.
If you’re winning everything looks good.
Imagine the light the beam kings doing the beam after 1 win I’m 50 games.
you seem pleasant
country of 5 million people btw. NZ is actually batting way above their weight too considering many of our best players dont play for the tall blacks
“Winning makes it look good” is a pretty weird argument. The haka happens before the game, so whether they win or lose has nothing to do with what the performance actually looks like.
yanks are so weird man
Exactly, the haka doesn’t hit the same when it’s done by a bunch of guys that missing about 80 lbs of muscle vs the original version
The guy in the back left looks like a little kid doing a choreographed dance, always a half beat behind and awkward as hell. I always love this about when BYU does their dances, too. You get like ten giant Samoan dudes losing their mind and a bunch of white kids from Arizona bouncing around awkwardly in the back like they’re trying to remember the steps to a waltz.
It works when it’s a bunch of Pacific Islanders. Otherwise not so much.
Yeah im completely ignorant when it comes to Rugby and someone in here posted a YT of the All Blacks doing the Haka and wow what a difference lol
also rugby is quite popular in the pacific so other teams like fiji actually do have their own dances.
You should watch the BYU teams do it. Or don’t, I don’t wish that experience on anyone.
It’s a cultural tradition, the only thing that is cringy is when everyone insists on using the word “scary” to describe it.
I’m from NZ and I agree
Hot take but I hate how opposing teams are just supposed to stand there blank faced while the New Zealand teams are by definition trying to intimidate them with the Haka.
And obviously if they smirk or laugh or have any natural reaction, they’re accused of being disrespectful to a custom.
EDIT: I am completely wrong. Here is the English Rugby team responding by advancing in a V formation during the 2025 match against New Zealand. This is pretty sick
Isn’t it about internal motivation too, channel the warrior spirit or something?
Absolutely but I’m really more lamenting the reaction from social media.
It’s a genuinely cool custom from Māori culture. But in an age of social media, having pretty much any reaction from the opposing team will just create outrage. So they just have to stand there awkwardly.
So they just have to stand there awkwardly.
They don’t have to. Team Australia would link arms, get up close, and glare at them. That was kind of cool.
Imagine if Team USA just started laughing at them and not taking it seriously. They’d get immense hate but funnily enough that’d be the best way to “counter” it. To show you’re not intimidated at all and think they just look silly
Do you have any proof for your take? I saw a recent Haka of the Black Ferns and the opponents walked towards them. There js the famous one against Ireland. The one where England refused to leave. I don’t think your claim is valid for recent times
The claim is 100% valid for what reactions would be if Americans did anything.
Absolutely zero. That’s why it’s a hot take. I’m going to look this up and delete my comment if so
Not quite. When the NZ Rugby team plays against Tonga, Fiji, or Samoa they will respond with their own dance to face the challenge
We should just normalize telling people to shut the fuck up lol. I like that idea
Sure, but why does the opposing team have to just stand there and take it?
If they have a challenge of their own they’re welcome to use it. There are similar customs throughout Polynesia and Melanesia, and it’s fuckin sick when those teams play NZ because they both do it.
I don’t know why the opposing team doesn’t just leave the field or ignore them by facing the opposite direction or go do a warm up drill or just sit in a circle bullshitting with each other instead.
The problem is that typically, teams are forced to just stand and stare at them while they perform this whole dance. Like waiting for an anthem to finish.
If players could just move away and do their own thing I wouldn’t mind, but they’re forced to stand and watch the performance for some reason.
It wouldn’t happen but an HBCU Stepping routine would go hard as a response in my opinion.
They can turn around if they want lmao
Afterwards John Wall does the dougie to intimidate the other side
I’m pretty sure you are allowed to respond. Many examples of this in rugby.
World Rugby introduced rules around how you’re allowed to respond years back after the French team got all up in their faces during the haka. There was “outrage” (like two guys wrote opinion pieces and someone got six retweets type outrage) so now the opposing team is not allowed to cross halfway during the haka.
Everybody hates it, in New Zealand most of all. Responses to the haka are cool as fuck - it’s a challenge, responding to it aggressively is what you’re supposed to do. Ignoring it is what gets people annoyed, like if teams just keep doing warmups while it’s being performed. That’s what’s considered disrespectful.
Yep this is maybe my favourite haka. Love them getting in each other’s faces
https://youtu.be/obS4m8tOBVA?si=gZ2SfUhdpwE-UoWW
It works in Rugby cause the New Zealand All Blacks are one of the top 1-2 teams in the world historically. Most teams “respect” the haka because it’s seen as a great moment in a players career to play the All Blacks so a lot of them take it in and enjoy the moment.
There’s been situations where teams warm up while the Haka is on but this fires the All Blacks up more and it doesn’t work out in favour of the other side.
Maybe Im missing ot but I dont see them advancing. They look like they are just standing there watching.
I get the history of it, but I think in the modern sports landscape it would make way more sense for them to perform the haka for their own fans before the match rather than the opposing players.
So you don’t really get the haka then
Nah man isn’t easier to just disregard other cultures.
Not really a hot take more of a misinformed one. Hakas are performed for various reasons such as deaths, graduations, haven’t seen your loved one in awhile, or before a sports game.
It’s a sign of respect to others on top of it being self motivational, with the intimidation notion being popularized by the ignorant.
this website apparently does not have the brainpower to process the fact that a custom can have dramatically different meanings based on audience and context
hasty generalization
How can you watch op’s video and claim theyre not trying to intimidate lol. How absurd.
Because no reasonable person thats never touched NBA level ball expects to intimidate Steph Curry, James Harden, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving in a basketball court.
I think they all knew they were gonna lose.
How? By actually using the computer in your hand and learning what the haka means and its origins.
How can you watch a video of American cheerleaders and claim they’re not trying to intimidate? They’re all stomping and yelling and stuff and its obviously a traditional war dance Americans use to frighten their enemies. i dont speak the American language but i assume their chants translate to stuff like “Kill them! Kill them! Crush their fucking skulls!”
This is a very good analogy I will be using it
I am terrified of cheerleaders.
Cause generally top athletes aren’t scared by a little yelling? Lmao lil bitch.
In my culture, sticking your tongue out and screaming at me while pounding your fists is aggressive. Why doesn’t my cultural understanding count but yours does?
I believe Team USA clapped at the end. Respectfully disrespectful.
If you look it up the Haka is about asking their god for protection for all the competitors. It is not supposed to intimidate, it is actually a kind thing. Kind of like how in America they pray before games, even when the non religious people have to stand there and listen to the nonsense we still recognise its a kind thing to do.
As an American - I have thankfully never had to pray before a game. Getting stuck with the national anthem as I played football against a team that was from the same state and traveled only 250 miles to show up was bad enough. I can’t imagine being stuck with a prayer.
I’m an Aussie and I was baffled by the prayer being lead in arena at an OKC game
Its not really praying. Theres lots of hakas with different meanings. The all blacks one is a war dance. Either way its more about paying respect to the Maori culture more than anything.
That’s interesting. I wasn’t aware of the true meaning. Although they have to be at least somewhat aware that all screaming, slapping, eye and tongue bulging kind of seems intimidating.
Guess where American teams do their pregame prayers ? In the locker room or on the sideline.
You shouldn’t have marked out that comment because any American team would certainly be hated on for “disrespecting” the custom. Although in the video you posted the English team is lowkey respecting the Haka by forming a formation to “counter” it. Americans just laughing at how funny it is would get them so much hate but ironically that would be the best way to counter it. To show them you’re not intimated at all and just think they look stupid lol
Dance back nerd, or some sort of display. That’s kind of what a haka represents, a show of force. If the anthem was sung back or a first nation representative was there it would be good form.
I understand this being intimidating on an island 100s of years ago while some puny ship captain tried to board land.
But in 2014? In a stadium? Against the greatest athletes in the world.. nah.
I wonder how this Haka ranks all-time in terms of their confidence and intimidation
Only an American could try to equate this to an actual warrior performance.
Guess what bro? The NZ athletes are well & truly aware they are not doing this to save their country from invasion. It’s just fucking sport, they want to self-motivate & present as a team to help their performance. That’s all there is to it. Nothing deeper.
Then why are they doing it right in front of the other team? I thought it was something done for important events…they are playing a game…
It’s not about confidence or intimidation. Look it up
Well if it’s not about intimidation they send some mixed signals
Just do the Carleton back together as a team
It’s quintessentially American to laugh in the face of threats. This is deeply embedded in our culture and expressed in our popular media. Why is your cultural expression ok but our cultural response disrespectful?
Nah they’re right. If Americans did anything it would be called disrepectful.
Not really, you can do your own dance too.
Traditionally you do your dance and they do theirs.
Like a krump battle.
Didn’t work in the 1800s maybe it’ll work now
Think of it like shaming or drowning out a countries national anthem but far worse.
Think of a bunch of Americans holding their chest as they do and belting out the anthem with pride then being cut off, laughed and booed at - outrage would follow.
Let me introduce you to the French Rugby team and some humanoid beast named Sébastien Chabal
https://youtu.be/Ou-hpkaPYS0?si=7T9s9utCu9LeZM4r
…that’s uh, not really a “chance to respond”?
The custom deserves disrespect. It’s cringe as fuck.
You’re from fucking Texas and you call another culture “cringe”? Your entire state is basically a meme.
Sure but the entire team USA can dress up as cowboys and still not be as cringey as the haka
Texan culture is 10x cooler than this. Cowboys are literally a core symbol of Americana
You don’t see Texan teams doing some dance on the court like this
this is what happens when you have a terrible education system, i dont blame you though you were fed bs from a very young age
I promise you that the image of a texan in the mind of a texan and one in the mind of anyone else are wildly different
Mfs with no culture calling others cringe smh
Texas has no culture? hahahahahahahahha
Like praying before a sporting event.
agree, though I don’t see any NBA teams doing that in such an ostentatious manner
“Intimidating” your opponent with a synchronized dance is goofy as hell. Doesn’t matter where you’re from
It’s not supposed to be intimidating. Not in this context, anyway.
Always cool to pass judgement on the goofiness of things you fundamentally don’t understand though.
Please don’t feed the stereotype of your country, be educated and look up why they do the Haka. You’re coming across as an illiterate moron
Americans calling other cultures cringe.
Every single timeout in an NBA game is non stop cringe.
Pure whataboutism, nice
You act like any American in the world enjoys watching commercials lol (yes I know there are tens of you out there you don’t have to comment)
WTF are you talking about timeouts for?
Is anyone forced to watch it?
Man, dont lump me in either that fool, i love watching hakas
Share your culture, I’m sure I can find a bunch of cringe shit for it too
His culture is buccee’s big parking lot
hahahaha
Call us when we make you watch us do it before international games.
let me know when I’m shoving it down your throat like they are in this video
They’re doing THEIR ritual before THEIR game lmao
I think their comments are cringey enough to do the job, no sharing of culture needed
Facts, he’s being a damn loser
Even I find my own culture cringe. But I don’t disrespect them like that guy you’ve replied.
Yeah saying something “deserves” disrespect is just nasty and some loser shit
You’re from Texas.
Hoes mad
real hot take: it’s completely overrated and mainstream at this point. Like watching the Always Sunny gang prepare for Chardeemcdennis.
Opposing teams are expected to stand respectfully for our national anthem, and it’d be considered disrespectful if they laughed or smirked. I think respecting this tradition is just as easy for the players, plus most people enjoy watching it
100%. And we’re supposed to act like choreographed dance is “intimidating” lol
Imagine how New Zealand politicians feel when their opposition just starts screaming and dancing at them lol
Learn what definition means. It’s a challenge, not intimidation.
Yes, in the old days there would be an element of intimidation to the performance of haka, especially in the context of a battle, obviously it is not meant to intimidate teams now since it’s not like they’re going to actually fight and kill each other.
Other than being a way to hype themselves up and express team unity, the haka in sports is mainly performed as a gesture of respect to the opposing team. It says to the opposing team “I respect you as an opponent and regard you as worthy to receive this expression of mana (life force). We will be leaving it all on the court against you.” The opponents are welcome to respond in kind and give some kind of expression of team unity or determination. I think that’s much better than just standing around or mocking what is in a way a gift to the other team.
Team USA may have beaten them by 30 points, but New Zealand played their hearts out and won 15th place in that tournament.
The Haka is a fantastic tradition but it makes no sense in non contact sports. Can you imagine the Cricket team doing a Haka? No, because it would look ridiculous just like this did.
Their chess team should totally do it.
Basketball is not a non-contact sport. Its a limited contact-sport. But its a lot more contact than say baseball or cricket or non-contact sports like bowling or whatever.
Shitty tradition with a shitty history
I can’t wait for the Haka craze to die out. It’s so cringy for everyone to do it… I get it, they’re from New Zealand but it’s a traditional dance of the Maori people.
It’s like watching people born in New York do a traditional native American rain dance before their tennis match…
Brave of you to post this for the 5th time this week.
Might be the internet telling you to go outside
kenneth fiered lol
In the full video some of the USA players start applauding at the end 🤣
Rose looking like, “wait, we’re playing the cheerleaders today?”
“forced”
Wait until they hear that America forces every other team to listen to their song before the game
If you think of it like the star spangled banner it’s not that weird in sports.
so cringe
Doing the haka before every sporting event is maybe the most performative thing in sports.
Eh, in this case, yes. The All Blacks have earned and deserve every ounce of respect doing it.
Haven’t won the World Championship since 2015.
And of course D Rose never changed expressions.
Hakas usually make me cry. This one didn’t
The shoes squeaking always sends me sideways. Watched enough Hakas to know the impact they can have but this might not be the best flooring for one.
This is the real life version of Indiana Jones shooting that guy with the sword.
“Choreographed dancing is very intimidating” - pick me redditors.
Derrick Rose with the “God’s lesson are beautiful?! Im sorry, who put this match together?!” face
Incredible pull.
Every Olympic team should be required to do a coordinated dance routine before each game.
I’m guessing in 2014 the US would have done Harlem Shake.
Ok, I go first.
— Raygun
It’s like when Indy pulls out a gun and kills the sword guy following an impressive sword demonstration
I really wish we could post gifs, lol.
The problem with the Haka is that it’s overexposed. When the NZ rugby team does it it’s extremely intimidating and cool. But now they do it in the government when a debate isn’t going well, they do it at the gas station when the price of gas goes up, and we’ve got these guys fumbling through it before they’re about to get their asses kicked.
And it’s not a short thing either, so everyone has to just sit there bored while everyone stomps around.
lmao
I respect the culture, but it doesn’t really hit the same when the rugby monsters aren’t the ones doing it.
“forced to watch”
Took 30 seconds, they survived.
Damn I forgot the Manimal existed
The least threatening haka I have ever witnessed
Judging the comments and upvote ratio in this thread I am no longer surprised Trump got elected.
Not bad, naive
Not being impressed by some skinny dorks doing the haka before getting their shit pushed in by the Americans ≠ naive
Don’t need to be impressed but not respecting or trying to understand what that may mean to others that aren’t you does in fact = naive.
Nice try though cob!
Insert Charlie Murphy laughing gif here
All the NBA guys: “I never cared for this frat”
Americans need to understand that the Haka is a demonstration of respect for a worthy opponent, and treat it appropriately with respect for the other culture. After all, the NZ team likely had to put up with the US National Anthem and flag waving at the start, and did so with respect for the US culture.
Should really save the haka for more competitive matches…
“USA forced to see other culture”
Ah yes, the famously monocultural USA. Totally unfamiliar with anything foreign.
It’s reddit, you’re supposed to endlessly stroke yourself to overplayed viral videos from more than a decade ago while pointing out how much better it is than anything and everything from the USA
Literally calls any black person ‘African American’ when many originate from the Caribbean btw
Most accurate comment here.
I mean if it’s an important part of your culture go ahead and do it…
But as a viewer I’m free to think it’s cringe and ridiculous just like prayer circles etc before a game
Do they like teach all the kids this dance in school. Like do all men know it?
Schools don’t learn this particular one, but kids will teach themselves it.
Most schools have a Kapa Haka group now, which is around the culture and process, and distinct haka and other dances suitable for their age and region. There’s also a national biannual competition where kapa haka groups put together large performances that tell a story.
This is my favourite segment from a previous one.
https://youtu.be/5WO3WN8sE5M
Quite a few schools have a school haka that students learn and perform for various occasions.
I love The Haka. It’s not about bragging, but getting psyched up. They know US is gonna smack them, but they’re gonna go out there and show their best anyway. It’s a cool cultural thing. I’ve seen it done in some very emotional moments, it’s stirring
They practiced this harder than their ball
The girls usually just take the money and leave
The haka is sick as hell. If you’re gonna go down, go down swinging
“Forced”! A Haka is an amazing thing to watch. If it doesn’t hype you up you’re not a competitor!
They got so hype they lost by 30…amazing to watch!
I think its better to do this after you’ve won the game that way it doesnt look like theyre talking shit only to get whooped by 30 pieces of nuggets
Everyone knows you don’t slap the floor and expect to win.