One time during a basketball game in high school, I had just subbed into the game. Our team was on defense, and I was primarily facing my defender, just glancing back over my shoulder at the ball coming up court.
The player I was guarding floated out to the three-point line, so I turned and faced where the ball was, playing SPECTACULAR help-side defense, if I do say so myself.
As I turned, I found the ball had landed in my hands. This was odd because, again, we were on defense.
I glanced up and saw my teammate racing down the court toward the other basket. I threw one of the best passes of my life to him; he caught it, took a dribble, and dunked the ball home.
We very rarely pulled off dunks during a game, so this was a huge accomplishment.
During another game, I took a charge on an opposing player. Only this charge took place AT MIDCOURT.
That would be like you walking to an airport kiosk but someone slides in front of you at the luggage self-check-in and you knock them over.
(Actually, that sounds like a fun way to pass the time during the next six-hour delay on a Delta flight…)
Anyway, the other player was FURIOUS. He slammed the ball on the ground and yelled out in frustration. I couldn’t have been happier.
My Sports R Dumb cohost Sean would hate that I even attempted to draw a foul in such a way, but it cracked me up.
After the turnover, we inbounded the ball and only had a few seconds left before the quarter ended. I ended up with it maybe 20 feet from the basket and thought hey, why not just take a few steps back to shoot a three-pointer?
That’s exactly what I did. The ball swished through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
I gave my brain a high-five for the fast thinking. It said “ouch,” because brains don’t like being slapped.
Both of these situations involved wacky sequences. It wasn’t just a single weird play, it was multiple ones that went bananas. And I loved it.
Believe it or not, my high school basketball team doesn’t hold a candle to what NBA players are capable of.
So, here’s a fun video of NBA sequences that get increasingly more bonkers. Hope your sequence of daily events today is just as spectacular.