Welcome to this new strand of Funny Stories. I'm counting week 1 of the NBA from the Pelicans @ Raptors game to Hornets @ Clippers.
James Harden's Face Pillow
James Harden had a great opportunity to make a buzzer beater at the end of the first half, but some great defense from the Pelicans made it so he couldn't even get off a shot. He argued he was fouled and when the refs said he wasn't, he slammed the ball down, only for it to bounce back and hit him in the face. Josh Hart's reaction was definitely the funniest part.
Postgame, a reporter asked if the ball hurt, to which Harden replied, "It hit the beard, so I had protection."
Then he laughed like Kawhi Leonard.
As Jalen Rose said on his daily ESPN podcast 'Jalen & Jacoby', "Like a pillow, huh."
Jalen Rose's Santa Suit
Speaking of Jalen Rose, he was at his hometown Detroit Pistons' game this last week, sporting a bright red jacket with a black and red striped shirt underneath. He must've really gotten into the game, because he stood up at started yelling at his team from courtside.
Jalen tried to defend himself on 'Jalen & Jacoby', but if we get after Drake for massaging Raptors coach Nick Nurse, we're definitely going to mention a 6'8" guy that weighs 210 pounds in bright red yelling at opposing teams.
Warriors' Interviews
To start, Steve Kerr, coach of the Warriors, said that turning Steph Curry into James Harden is not going to help them, maybe definitely taking a shot at the Rockets' star inefficiency (Harden shot 2-18 from 3 in one of his games this past week). Steph himself said something about people throwing darts at him and his team. But Draymond Green's interview was especially interesting.
First, Green said that he wasn't doing enough defensively or offensively, "I think the first couple games I led them the wrong way." However he also said:
“The reality is we f---ing suck right now...We just not that good right now. I don’t know what better way to frame it. I can try in Spanish, but I ain’t really that good at Spanish.”
Notable Posters
Derrick Jones Jr had another monster poster over a big man in the Heat's first game, against the Memphis Grizzlies. DJJ destroyed power forward Jonas Valanciunas on a pick and roll with guard Goran Dragić. Jones Jr. always has some crazy monster slams, but Christmas came early this year.
Another crazy play was when Damian Lillard dropped Mason Plumlee on a smooth spin move, then dunked on Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.
Last notable poster was John Collins over Andre Drummond. Drummond was going up for a defensive rebound when Collins flew in from the three point line and almost jumped over Drummond to get the put back slam.
Notable Crossovers
Kyrie had like 8 that I could put in, but I could only choose one. My favorite was when he was coming off a screen, it was a one on one, him and Jonas Valanciunas. He gave Val a slick hesitation move, and drove right past him, with Val frozen behind him.
Fred Van Vleet made Markelle Fultz fall down when he did a James Harden-like pull back dribble.
Another person who's ankles were broken was Devin Booker. Jamal Murray crossed him at the free throw line, causing Booker to eat dirt as Murray hit a wide open jumper. That might've cost the Suns the game, since they lost by one point in overtime.
I know I can't do these dunks and crossovers justice, so here are the official NBA videos of the best dunks and crossovers of the first week:
This was a longer post than I thought it would be, but hopefully you enjoyed it. This is going to be a weekly thing now, so watch out for next weeks!
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