Open Court on NBA

I Love watching Open Court! It is so entertaining to hear all of these basketball greats discussing the game. I get a kick out of their different personalities and watching their discuss a variety of topics. Even if I occasionally disagree with what they might be saying, I can still appreciate their opinions and views on the game.

Whenever I watch these segments I feel like I'm at a reunion as they discuss aspects of the game I have been enjoying for over 35 years. It's only a matter of time until they start arguing and then eventually bust up laughing. I actually think I'd rather watch Open Court episodes than many NBA games.

Check out this segment below at the 6:00 minute mark when Charles Barkley starts falling asleep and Shaq busts up laughing and they all get on his case. I love this stuff.



The only thing that would make it better is if they could expand the cast even more. I'd like to hear from more past players like Gary Payton, Karl Malone, Larry Bird, Jordan, Dominique, David Robinson, Allen Iverson, etc. Some of these guys are obviously more entertaining than others but it is still so fun to see them interact and I learn a ton from watching these segments.

Dunk Contest Revived

Over the weekend the NBA put on All Star weekend in Toronto. I have been critical of the NBA dunk contest for years now. There has been too much hype and not enough originality in the past. I was originally upset when I saw that they were only going to have 4 participants again this year but I was pleasantly surprised after watching Saturday night.

What made the contest great was the dueling dunks between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon. I have attached the video recap below in case you have not seen it.



Both of these guys were amazing but I felt Gordon had a little more originality as much as I hated seeing Stuff the dragon on the court but he had some sweet dunks with the mascot's assistance. LaVine was amazing but I felt he over used the several variations of the free throw dunks.

The real winners of the contest were the fans who finally got to see a great exhibition. I'm looking forward to next year's contest, but I still think they need to invite at least 6 guys to the contest.

Getting the Opposing Team's Attention

It is pretty common to see the players on the bench freak out and jump up when one of their teammates has a nasty dunk or breaks someones ankles. It's a bigger compliment when the opposing team's bench is visibly impressed with their opponent's performance. I've seen this happen several times over the years and it always makes me laugh. I was recently looking at some old school 80's NBA games and came across this Larry Bird highlight when he scored 60 points against Atlanta. Watch around the 4:50, 5:00, and 6:00 minute marks and check out the Hawks bench reaction to his performance. It's awesome.



Here is a more recent occurrence from a couple years ago when Gerald Henderson threw down a dunk or to be more accurate a "thrunk" over Dwight Howard. Check out the two players at the end of the Lakers bench when they see it. It's just instinctual to stand up and freak out but one of the teammates tries to subdue Jamison's response.



It's always fun to see this happen. I'll keep my eyes posted for more example to share when I see them.

I found another example of this on a video featuring Gerald Green dunks. Check out the Houston bench on the last dunk in the video. They are doing everything in their power to stay seated on the bench but you can tell they want to go nuts over how high he jumps.