Say "sweet dreams" to your opponent while giving him the worst nightmare!

(This is just one of the several outstanding variation of arguably the most graceful, unpredictable move in NBA)

1. Start from the baseline in the pre-dribbling stage. Make an eye-fake to the right

2. If he buys your eye fake, bounce the ball quickly on your left and start driving forward towards the basket. If he doesn¡¯t buy your eye fake, bounce the ball a couple of times on the right to get him low, then perform a quick crossover in front to your left and drive forward. (Notice that you don¡¯t have to blow by your opponent completely, he is still under your disposal even if he is on your right side provided that you can withstand his pressure)

3. When you are in the paint (quite close to the basket). Pick up the ball and do a small power hop to get a better position. Do a quick pump fake once (A decent defensive players will not be faked by a slight pump fake but this will definitely raise their caution psychologically.)

4. Pivot with your left toes (This is called the ¡°Toe Pivot.¡± It gives the player extra range when pivoting) and take a huge stride towards the basket with your right leg. Hold up the ball with your right hand (remember to shield to ball with your back of your hand and your forearm to avoid getting your ball stripped away. Specifically, hold it up while hooking the ball tightly in the slot formed by your palm and forearm)

5. Delay and see if he falls for the first fake. a) If he jumps at the first fake, wait for him to be on his way down. Then, you take a leap and finish with a baby hoop under the basket. b) If he doesn¡¯t, put your left heel back on the ground and lift your toes. (This is called the ¡°Heel Pivot¡±, the so-called ¡°ball of your foot¡± makes spinning way easier and gives more maneuverability.) As soon as you are on your left heel, spin 180 degrees to your left by pushing hard with your right foot. Fake a jump shot by holding up the ball with both hands.

6. Delay again and see if he falls for this second fake. a) If he takes flight upon the second fake, sneak past beside him and get the easy lay-in. b) If he doesn¡¯t jump, since you have probably done enough to distant yourself from him, you can simply jump and lean back for an easy bucket. Either way, you score.
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Courtside Impression:

Physical requirement
Solid upper body balance to withstand pressure.
Decent height.
Strong and Quick limbs

Skill requirement
Basic dribbling
Head and shoulder fake
Exceptional footwork
Baby hook
Fade away shot

Applicability 9/10
You must start from the baseline or close to the baseline because of two reasons. One of them is that the middle is too crowded and there is no space for you to maneuver. The other reason is that you run a very large risk of getting double-team when performing the Dream Shake in the middle.

Flexibility 10/10
Dream Shake is possibly the most flexible basketball move in the NBA. You can take a shot safely after any of the fakes. What if you are double-teamed? You can dish it to your teammates easily while spinning to get yourself open.

Flash-ability 10/10
This basketball move can break your opponent¡¯s ankles and make your opponent take flight on a fake. As the saying goes, making two embarrassments with one basketball move.

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