Don’t Know DAP? Rye’s (and the NBA’s) Adam Silver Does
The NY Times profiled Rye resident, Rye High grad and NBA commish Adam Silver on his skill giving dap. Don't know Dap? Just ask Silver the next time you see him around town.
Dap is "a friendly gesture of greeting, agreement, or solidarity between two people that has become popular in western cultures, particularly since the 1970s, originating from African American communities. Giving dap typically involves handshaking (often, by hooking thumbs), pound hugging, fist pounding, or chest- or fist bumping," according to Wikipedia.
From the Times:
"Adam Silver and the Art of Giving Dap
When you are a professional athlete, the commissioner can sometimes seem like your high school principal: He is a lot older than you, he always wears a tie and he can suspend you.
So some Golden State Warriors players were surprised to see how N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver greeted them at their championship ring ceremony a few months ago.
Rather than extending a firm handshake and a cordial word or two while passing out the rings, Silver stood there and gave dap — that is, a more intricate, intimate handshake — to pretty much every player.
(PHOTO: Don't know Dap? Get educated.)
“Usually, you don’t see that,” said Shaun Livingston, a veteran guard for the Warriors. “You expect a more corporate-type handshake. I guess he felt comfortable enough.”…
…People seem to notice Silver’s handshake style because — as a 53-year-old white lawyer from Rye, N.Y. — he does not really look like a person who would shake hands that way. He laughed and acknowledged that colleagues were not greeting one another other like this when he was a litigation associate at the white-shoe law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore many years ago.
(VIDEO: White men can't jump, but Adam Silver can dap.)
“You see him on TV and stuff, and he doesn’t seem like that type of guy,” said Kevon Looney, who was the 30th selection at the draft last year. “I just put my hand out there, followed his lead, and we dapped.”"
Read the full NY Times piece.
