{"id":85615,"date":"2026-04-28T07:36:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/who-invented-the-high-five-the-debated-origin-of-an-iconic-gesture\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:36:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:36:31","slug":"who-invented-the-high-five-the-debated-origin-of-an-iconic-gesture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/who-invented-the-high-five-the-debated-origin-of-an-iconic-gesture\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Invented the High-Five? The Debated Origin of an Iconic Gesture"},"content":{"rendered":"


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You\u2019ve done it thousands of times. After a game-winning shot, a solid joke, a perfectly executed parallel parking job. You\u2019ve probably never thought twice about who did it first. The high-five is so woven into sports and everyday life that it feels like it must have existed forever \u2014 like a handshake or a wave.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t. The high-five is a surprisingly modern gesture, and its exact origin is one of the more entertaining unsettled debates in sports. While many credit a famous 1977 moment between Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Dusty Baker<\/strong> and Glenn Burke<\/strong>, multiple competing stories and cultural references have emerged over time \u2014 some well documented, others later disputed or even fabricated. Nobody has definitively settled the question.<\/p>\n

The 1977 High-Five Moment Most People Know<\/h2>\n

According to Britannica, the most widely accepted origin story traces the high-five to October 2, 1977. That\u2019s the day Dodgers left fielder Dusty Baker hit his 30th home run of the season. As Baker crossed home plate, teammate Glenn Burke greeted him with an upraised hand. Baker slapped it in celebration.<\/p>\n

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Related: <\/span>3 Great Netflix Sports Movies and Documentaries to Watch in October 2025<\/span>
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The moment is often credited as the first recorded high-five, and Burke is recognized for helping popularize the gesture in professional sports. But there\u2019s a catch: the interaction was not televised. The most famous origin story of one of the world\u2019s most recognizable gestures exists only in the memories of the people who were there.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis hand was up in the air, and he was arching way back,\u201d Baker told ESPN in 2020. \u201cSo I reached up and hit his hand. It seemed like the thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even by Baker\u2019s own telling, it was completely spontaneous \u2014 a reaction, not a rehearsed gesture.<\/p>\n

Earlier and Alternative Claims of the High-Five<\/h2>\n

Despite the popularity of the MLB origin story, historians and cultural references suggest the gesture may be considerably older.<\/p>\n

Some accounts suggest the high-five may have existed among U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan after World War II. Others note visual similarities in earlier media, including a scene in Jean-Luc Godard<\/strong>\u2019s 1960 film Breathless<\/em> where characters appear to perform a similar gesture \u2014 nearly two decades before Baker and Burke\u2019s moment.<\/p>\n

Another theory ties the high-five to African American Vernacular English, specifically the phrase \u201cgimme five.\u201d This line of thinking suggests the physical motion evolved from existing cultural expressions \u2014 that the upward palm slap wasn\u2019t invented in a single moment but grew gradually out of a greeting with roots far deeper than any one sports celebration.<\/p>\n

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Related: <\/span>Do NCAA Schools Have to Follow Trump\u2019s Executive Order Limiting Athletes?<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tPresident Donald Trump signed a second executive order in an attempt to \u201cfix\u201d college sports \u2014 this one coming on the heels of the biggest weekend of the year for NCAA basketball. The White House announced on Friday, April 3, that the latest executive order is focused on transfer and eligibility rules for college athletes, [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Louisville Basketball Stars Made Their Own Claims About the High-Five<\/h2>\n

In basketball lore, one story credits University of Louisville players Wiley Brown<\/strong> and Derek Smith<\/strong> with creating the gesture. At a University of Louisville basketball practice during the 1978-79 season, forward Brown went to give a plain old low five to his teammate Smith. Out of nowhere, Smith looked Brown in the eye and said, \u201cNo. Up high.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cardinals were known as the Doctors of Dunk. They played above the rim. So when Smith raised his hand, it clicked for Brown: He understood how the low five went against the essential, vertical character of their team.<\/p>\n

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