From Giannis' cigars to Curry's bath: Top NBA viral moments in past year

Social media is always abuzz when something epic or wacky happens in the NBA – and 2021 provided plenty of moments which sent Twitter's algorithm spiralling.

It's been a thrilling last 12 months in the best basketball league in the world and the biggest stars have shone brightly, with Giannis Anteokounmpo and Stephen Curry in particular grabbing the limelight.

Curry has broken all sorts of shooting records and Anteokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to their first title in 50 years.

That pair have accounted for crazy amounts of social media traction on their own, but they are by no means alone in that regard in terms of NBA stars.

Here are the top viral moments from the past year – and view them in the video at the top of the page...

Curry drops 62 on Blazers and takes a bath

The best stat line of last year came 365 days ago when Stephen Curry dropped a career-high 62 points in Golden State's win over Portland. He finished with 62 points on 18-of-31 shooting and 18-of-19 from the stripe, to go along with eight triples, five rebounds, and four assists in 36 minutes of play.

After his stunning performance, Curry was in the midst of a serious interview when team-mate and brother-in-law Damion Lee decided to pour a bottle of water over his head. Curry didn't mind the congratulatory gesture, and it prompted a memorable victory shriek from the Warriors superstar.

Holiday and Giannis team up to seal Game 5

Next up, it's a play from the last 20 seconds of Game 5 of last year's NBA Finals as Jrue Holiday stole the ball from Devin Booker to send the Milwaukee Bucks surging up court. The Greek Freak then hammered home an alley-oop from Holiday's pass to take an ultimately decisive four-point lead.

"Big time, big time. It was the winning play of the game," said Giannis, after the game.

Curry breaks 3-point record and gave his dad the ball

Stephen Curry became the NBA's all-time leading 3-point shooter last month in a memorable night at Madison Square Garden, which led to tributes from across the world.

Sky Sports NBA chronicled the whole day in an epic thread, above, on a historic day for the league. That includes Curry giving the ball to his father Dell, himself a magnificent NBA three-point shooter, and Stephen admitted his dad was always going to end up with the ball which sealed the record.

When asked when people say 'Who is the greatest shooter of all time?' in the post-match media, Curry said: "I got that, baby."

Crowder's physics-defying pass for last-second Ayton oop

This next play defies the laws of physics to a degree and certainly challenges the interpretation of angles.

Jae Crowder threw an inbounds pass from well behind the backboard and couldn't have measured his pass above the rim more perfectly if he'd been using a giant protractor.

As it was, he tossed it above the cylinder and Deandre Ayton flushed it home in the final second of play to help the Phoenix Suns go 2-0 up against the LA Clippers in the Western Conference Finals.

Edwards dunks on Watanabe leaving him dazes

The next play is a colossal exclamation point from Anthony Edwards.

Edwards was a walking highlight reel in his rookie year but although he only scored seven points in this game, this is perhaps the moment he will be most remembered for. The dunk was outrageously bold and exquisitely executed.

Also worth noting was Yuta Watanabe's visibly dazed reaction. "Dunk of the Year" trended after this and it's no surprise.

Crazy turnaround at end of Wizards vs Nets

Last season saw one of the craziest ever turnarounds to decide an NBA game.

Five points down to the Brooklyn when Bradley Beal jumped up to shoot a contested jumper with nine seconds to go, the Wizards ended up winning the game by three points.

Firstly Beal's jumper went through the net and then Wizards guard Garrison Mathews stole the inbounds pass fired it to Russell Westbrook behind the arc near the corner. Westbrook fired home to give Washington the unlikeliest of leads.

Even after that there was still time for Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to miss from right underneath the basket and then Beal iced the game with free throws to seal the 149-146 final score.

After the game Westbrook said: "We got a win, that's all that matters."

Curry wins three-point title for the second time

Stephen Curry made so many headlines for his shooting in 2021, and already has his first new record to his name in 2022.

Featuring within his many, many accomplishments are two 3-point contest wins on NBA All-Star Weekend, in 2015 and then again last year.

It all went down to the final rack, and even the final ball, which is worth two points. Make it and Curry'd won, miss it, he'd finish second.

By this time in the contest though, Curry was in his groove and Curry sunk it to win with a final-round score of 28. Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley Jr finished as the runner-up with 27.

The Nets go full-Harlem Globetrotters

This play from the end of the 2020-21 regular season was the type of basketball magnificence which, to use the commonly-memed expression, needs hung in the Louvre.

Blake Griffin backwards scoop pass, like a digger scooping muck out the ground; Kyrie Irving floating the ball weightlessly and perfectly into the stride of Mike James; James off-the-backboard assist for Kevin Durant to arrive on scene at the perfect time and flush home.

An UNBELIEVABLE play.

Williams' incredible NBA Finals pep-talk to Ayton

There are cameras and microphones everywhere at the NBA Finals, and they happened to catch an interaction late in Game 2 that was going viral before the game was even over.

Monty Williams' fatherly chat on the sideline with Deandre Ayton saw the Phoenix Suns coach attempting to cheer him up on what was a slow night statistically against the Milwaukee Bucks. Ayton's head was down. His body language was awful. Williams wasn't having it. He started talking, then grabbed Ayton's wrist to further commandeer his attention.

Mind you, his voice was raised high enough only so Ayton could hear him over the din of the crowd. No yelling, no screaming, no swearing, no histrionics.

Ayton scored shortly after that time out ended. A few seconds after that, he got a steal. A couple minutes later, with Milwaukee within six and still having hope, Ayton found Chris Paul for a 3-pointer. The Bucks were never within two possessions of tying the game again.

Giannis hands out cigars in the locker room

Only fitting that we let the last highlight on this to Giannis Antetokounmpo after his outrageous performance in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

The championship celebrations were great viewing as a whole but the most hilarious moment was when Giannis insisted he wanted a smoke a cigar, similar to what LeBron James did in 2020.

The two-time league MVP was the main distributor of the Cuban smokes to the Bucks locker room and was seen across the internet smoking a Romeo while doling out the smokes with an open box.

The live NBA action continues this evening with the New York Knicks' trip to the Toronto Raptors, live on Sky Sports Football channel and Sky Sports website and YouTube from 8.30pm.