Why do basketball players touch shoes?

I was wondering why basketball players often touch the bottom/soles of their shoes especially after they shoot a foul shot. After they shoot the first one, theyll touch the bottom of their shoes, one at a time, and then throw the other shot. They sometimes do it when they are just standing around too.

Why do basketball players touch shoes?
How about a combination of some of those ideas? Their hands are sweaty; their shoes are dry. It's killing two birds with one stone. They can wipe the sweat off their hands AND make their shoes have a bit more grip. Guess what? The shoes don't squeek on the floor if they are dry/dusty!
Reply:ok, I play basketball, and quite a lot of it.


I often rub my shoes, and it is almost a habit. But, I rub the shoes, and sometimes spit on my hand first, to remove the dust, which gives me more grip. and, as mentioned, it is also because they dry out, but that isnt how i get my sweaty hands dry... Report It

Reply:It whips the dust off of the shoe
Reply:theyre just wiping off the bottom of the shoes.. they cant become dry and slippery..
Reply:get sweat off their hands to gain more grip
Reply:to take the dust off, so it could have good grib on a gum
Reply:I think that is what they do when they don't have anything to do, or just simply exercising.
Reply:they do it to get the dust of their shoes so they don't get slippery
Reply:so they can get the dust off the bottoms and get better grip when the run........
Reply:This is a really good question. Honestly I've done it to get extra grip on my fingers. Just me...Let's see what others will say.



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