It seems that LeBron James has done more than trigger the second largest winning streak in NBA history. He is also responsible for another trend, one that Kevin Durantably followed (much to the delight of all parties involved) after a fan hit a half-court shot in OKC during the Trail Blazers-Thunder matchup Sunday night.
Can definitely dig the tribute from Durant, a buddy of James. But mostly, kudos to the fan for first running past the $20K check he won to get to his wife. Clearly, this is a smart man.
The creator of the Horry Scale, Micah Hart, has moved on from NBA.com-land. Still, his brainchild will live on. Now, only two days into the season, we have our first candidate of 2012-13 in Tony Parker.
For those that are new around these parts, the Horry scale examines a game-winning buzzer-beater (GWBB) in the categories of difficulty, game situation (was the team tied or behind at the time?), importance (playoff game or garden-variety Clippers-Nets game?), and celebration, and gives it an overall grade on a scale of 1-5 Robert Horrys, who is kind of the patron saint of last-second clutchiness.
For longtime Spurs fans, it might have been sweeter than usual to see Parker nailing a game-winning jump shot, if only because it wasn’t all that long ago that many questioned if Parker could add a reliable jump shot to his dangerous dribble-drive game.
How does Mr. Parker’s shot Thursday stack up? Let’s take a look.
Difficulty
As mentioned above, this is a now-routine shot for Parker — which was something you couldn’t always say about his outside game. We’d rate this one a medium difficulty, though, seeing as how last season’s shotblocking king, Serge Ibaka, was in the neighborhood and wasn’t that far behind in getting a hand on the ball. The shot could have been a lot tougher, though, had OKC All-Star Russell Westbrook not gotten lost on the pass from Danny Green to Parker, something that Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith took Westbrook to task for on “Inside the NBA.”
This was the second game of the season for San Antonio and OKC’s season-opener, so the importance would seem muted. There is, of course, the fact that these were the teams in last season’s West finals … and that OKC came back from an 0-2 hole to vanquish the Spurs … and that these squads remain among the West favorites again. This game adds another chapter to the overall lore of the rivalry and may end up mattering come season’s end. The importance factor, then, is semi-high with a chance of super-high later in the season.
Celebration
Very Spurs-like: The always-loyal San Antonio fans go nuts, Parker lets out a celebratory yell, Tim Duncan gets him in a loving headlock, Stephen Jackson comes over to bask in the moment, coach Gregg Popovich has a look of “welp” on his face and the Spurs head giddily to the locker room . Perfectly matched to the importance of the game.
Grade
3½ Horrys. It’s a well-executed shot and Parker proves that his game has plenty of range. The rivalry factor with OKC colors things and the potential future impact of this game to the West hierarchy beefs up the rating from what it would be were it any other game or teams (it’d probably be like 2 stars, IMO, if that were the case).
From the fanbase that brought you the Thundermobile comes a new completely unnecessary, total waste of time yet still incredibly awesome corn maze tribute to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As a Texas grad, I have a hard time not ribbing the residents of the state of Oklahoma, but it really does seem like they are desperate for things to do. I mean look at that thing. I can’t imagine what possessed the people responsible for this maze to do such a thing, but I sure am glad they did. I guess when you run the largest corn maze in ALL of Oklahoma, you have to constantly be striving for excellence to stay ahead of the competition.
I kid, but seriously. I want to go to there.
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Healthy debate going around the office today as to which of these two Foot Locker spots is better.
First up, Russell Westbrook and James Harden illustrate the many uses of tearaway clothing:
Next, Carmelo Anthony finds a way to enjoy all his sneakers at the same time:
Side note — Can you imagine how many Joe Johnsons Joe Johnson would have to hire to wear all his shoes?
So which is your favorite? I’m leaning towards the Westbrook/Harden joint myself (Harden’s deadpan look kills me every time), but I can still be swayed by opposing arguments.
When you own a 1996 Suzuki X-90, there are only so many things you can do to jazz it up. Some rims, a cool spoiler, maybe a Calvin and Hobbes decal, but that’s about it.
*Limited in the way that New Coke was limited edition as well, I’m assuming.
The excitement from driving around such a conspicuous ride appears to have worn off on Hooper however, who is now selling the vehicle on Craigslist. Well, either the excitement, or dealing with the fact that according to the ad, the driver’s side window doesn’t roll down and the A/C doesn’t work. Either way, the ride can be yours for a cool three stacks.
Check out more of the photos after the jump, and if you’re interested, shoot him an email. Not sure if he’s willing to consider interesting trades or not.
What a shortened, yet still very long, strange trip it’s been. In a season that felt like we inhaled on Christmas Day, only to exhale roughly two hours ago, I’m already counting down the days until we start this whole thing over again in November.
But before we start dreaming of a fresh start, let’s pause for a few moments to remember some of the fun and funny we had over the course of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, which started somewhat slowly but picked up speed to the thrilling conclusion that was the Finals series between the victorious Heat and vanquished Thunder.
Here’s a look back at the 10 most amusing moments from the last seven weeks:
10. Amar’e channels Andy Bernard
The Knicks had a lot of hype at one point in the NBA season, but it all began to fall apart starting with a rash of injuries to the likes of Jeremy Lin and ImanShumpert. At least their injuries occurred on the court though. Amar’e Stoudemire made headlines when he punched a fire-extinguisher case after Game 2 of the Knicks’ first-round series against the Heat, causing a huge laceration and forcing the Knicks’ big man to miss the next game of an eventual 4-1 series defeat.
9. Spurs fan gets Matt Bonner haircut, gets suspended
In case you forgot, a Spurs fan got this shaved into the back of his head:
For doing so, he got suspended from school, which seems bad, until the Internet found out about it and the Spurs ended up invited him to a playoff game. Miss school AND see playoff basketball? BEST WEEK EVA! By the way, a month later, the kid did it again.
If there has been an unsung star for the Heat in these playoffs (if anyone on the Heat can be called unsung), it would have to be Shane Battier, who has been absolutely lights-out from 3-point range the past few weeks and provided exactly the kind of offensive support so crucial to Miami’s Big Three at this late stage.
He joined the GameTime crew of Matt Winer, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal after Sunday’s big Game 3 win for the Heat, and after getting the particulars out of the way early on Shaq and Chuck only wanted to know one thing (around the 4:20 mark). What’s up with the purple pants, Shane?
Gotta give the guy credit for having the confidence required to wear those pants, but shooting 73% from distance in The Finals probably goes a long way in providing it.
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Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader is from Oklahoma, and along with Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne, is the Thunder’s resident celebrity fan. He’s also a master impressionist.
He joined the GameTime crew before tonight’s Game 2 and broke out a little of his Ernie Johnson impression, which he did earlier this season on the show when Charles Barkley hosted:
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Taken from hockey, the trend of growing a playoff beard has moved into other professional sports over the years. The Clippers did it earlier this postseason. The Thunder chose not to, instead expressing their playoff solidarity through silly press conference attire. There is a member of the Thunder with a very famous beard, but his can only be considered playoff-related if his postseason began when he was 16 years old.
NBA TV’s Jared Greenberg caught up to James Harden today at media availability to see what his plans are for the beard should OKC cut down the nets in the next couple weeks:
From the man himself, the beard is going nowhere. I will sleep soundly tonight.
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Catch up on every single game-winning buzzer beater during the season and see how it rates on the Horry Scale.
