Background:

The informant is my younger brother. He was born in Pasadena, California and was raised in Silver Lake, California. He is currently a sophomore at Providence high school in Burbank where he receives an academic scholarship. He enjoys participating in sports and hanging out with his friends in his spare time.

Transcript:

Me: Okay so explain “Buckets” to me what exactly does it mean?

Informant: Alright so in Basketball there is a lot of trash talking. Whether you’re bagging on someone for how much they suck or if you’re hyping yourself up cuz you know you’re just that good. Basketball deals a lot with confidence and being mentally strong. So “Buckets” is a way of stating that you just scored, you’re gonna score, or that you’re just flat out good at scoring, It all depends on how you use it

Me: Can you give me some examples on how it is used?

Informant: Yea….”Buckets!” is usually said after scoring as a reminder to your defender that they can’t guard you. “I’m about to get buckets” is said before scoring as a way of getting inside your opponents head showing them you’re pretty damn confident you can score on them. And”I get buckets” is said when you know you can score at will. Basically like saying you’re the shit.

Me: When did you first pick this up?

Informant: When I started playing pickup at the park and gym with my friends. When you play pickup at a park or gym you hear endless amounts of shit talking. I heard it and ever since then I’ve started using it.

Analysis:

It is a very clever metaphor in my opinion, and a very witty way of talking trash. I just wonder why it is “buckets” and not “baskets”?  It is interesting to see simple terms come to life in sports language. In 2012, the term was used in a Pepsi Max commercial. The person using the term was NBA rookie of the year Kyrie Irving.

Annotation: 

Uncle Drew Part 1 Pepsi Max/Pepsi. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DnKOc6FISU>.