‘One, Two, Three … Cancun!’ The Story Behind the Best Punch Line in the NBA Playoffs–
Former Lakers Nick Van Exel, Shaquille O’Neal and Robert Horry dish on the origin of the ‘Inside the NBA’ catchphrase.
The following written by HOWARD BECK
Nick Van Exel wants this clear: He never quit on his team, never meant to imply it and never meant to offend anyone. He surely never intended to launch a meme—mostly because, well, no one in 1998 knew what a “meme” was when Van Exel blurted out his wry rallying cry:
“One, two, three … Cancun!”
“It just popped in my head,” Van Exel says now, chuckling over this odd little origin story. “It wasn’t like it was scripted.”
It won’t technically be in the script Tuesday night, either, when TNT’s Inside the NBA broadcasts what could be its final show of the 2022 playoffs. But if the Warriors complete their sweep of the Mavericks, you can bet someone—Shaq, Kenny or Chuck—will send Luka Dončić & Co. into the summer with a cheeky, ubiquitous refrain:
“One, two, three … Cancun!”
And Van Exel, watching from his own vacation, will sit back, smile and shake his head.
“I probably should have trademarked that thing,” says Van Exel, now an assistant coach with the Hawks.
If you watch the NBA playoffs, you know the bit: A team gets eliminated, and it becomes instant fodder for the “Gone Fishin’” segment—with players and coaches magically transported onto yachts, beaches, piers and the occasional banana boat. Hilarity ensues. Oh, does it ensue.
And then, invariably, someone will shout out Cancun, the vacation hot spot on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Always Cancun. Not Maldives or Mykonos, not Aruba or Fiji or Zanzibar. Nope, just Cancun. And that’s because of Van Exel.
It’s because during the 1998 Western Conference finals, the Lakers—then built around a young Shaquille O’Neal (26) and an even younger Kobe Bryant (19)—were, for the second straight spring, getting absolutely destroyed by the Jazz, a veteran-laden powerhouse led by Karl Malone and John Stockton.
The Lakers were flashier and more talented, with Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Robert Horry, Rick Fox and Derek Fisher flanking O’Neal and Bryant. But the Jazz were more mature and methodical and ultimately overpowering.
“We were young,” Van Exel says. “We had guys that wanted to get their points and do their thing, as opposed to going out there and winning as a group.”
The series was heading for a sweep, and everyone knew it.
The mood at the Great Western Forum was dour as the Lakers huddled up in a back hallway before running out for Game 4. “One, two, three … Lakers!” they all bellowed to break the huddle. Except for one mischievous voice: “One, two, three … Cancun!” Read more from S.I.
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