There are a few things in the NBA that are inseparable, tunnel walks and fashion, All-Star Weekend and flashy dunks, championships and cigars. While it’s difficult to envision an athlete so reliant on physical health puffing on a cigar, it became a benefit of a hard-earned victory.

The Celtics infamous 60s head coach, Red Auerbach normalised this “He was the one person who smoked cigars in the Fleet Center; it was a non-smoking venue.” When Larry Bird led the Celtics to the ‘81 Championship, he lit a victory cigar in an image known as The King of The Garden alongside Auerbach. Seen as a socio-economic status symbol owners and coaches would give it to players to honour their hard work.

But it was Michael Jordan’s love for stogies that popularised it amongst players, making it a standard in a champion’s locker room. According to Cigar Aficiando MJ smoked his first cigar when the Bulls won their first championship in ‘91 - “Up to that point, I had never smoked a cigar, never smoked anything. We won the championship and Jerry Reinsdorf gave me one of his cigars.” A habit MJ carried into his game day ritual admitting “each home game I smoked a cigar. I wanted that feeling of success and relaxation.”

(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

As MJ established himself as a GOAT, others commemorated their wins similarly. The iconic shot of #KobeBryant following the Lakers’ 2002 three-peat, he paid homage by smoking a cigar in a Jordan jersey. LeBron James followed suit, flaunting his victories nonchalantly smoking in post-game interviews. Once with his first win in 2016 – garnering widespread attention for the Yaxel Ortiz Y.O. Torpedo – and again with his first win in LA in 2020.

Cigars have had such an influential impact on NBA triumphs, that the term Human Victory Cigar was coined. A title first given to Darko Milicic, the 2003 #2 draft pick who failed to prosper in the season, the name was given to a player who only enters a game in case of a major blow-out. When victory was inevitable, the team’s HVC would hit the hardwood, a way to indicate who would bring out the victory cigars. A symbol of celebration and luxury, cigars are cemented as a celebratory indulgence for NBA champions.