This photo cropped up after Game 4 in the Utah/Lakers series. And that may or may not be a horrible, horrible pun.
I would post it here, but it very may well be fake (”cropped”…get it?) as the hand looks a little dubious and possibly photoshopped if you zoom in even closer. The photo’s authenticity and this one fan’s level of douchebaggery is not really the point though.
The point is that the Jazz fans are notoriously crude and indeed booed Derek Fisher when he returned this season in a Lakers uniform. (Fisher, if you’re not up on things, played for Utah for the last few years and has a daughter fighting retinal cancer, yet flew back and forth from her treatments in New York last year during the Playoffs to play for them and would often get there minutes before tip-off and in one game famously arrived in street clothes while everyone else was already suited up only to come in and kick ass and hit a game-winning shot, but decided after the season that he needed to live in a city where he could be with his daughter and she could get proper treatment so the Jazz owner let him out of his contract and he then signed with Los Angeles, which is a city that has a good hospital to deal with this disease, yet the Jazz fans for some reason felt this deserved booing when he came back to play against them rather than the raucous standing ovation he would have gotten anywhere else. Got it? Cool.)
The assertion is that this fan was yelling “Cancer!” at Fish while he was shooting free-throws. Even if this photo is a fake, there are other allegations of fans chanting “cancer” when he had the ball.
The Jazz fans were also called out last year by Golden State Warrior players for using racial slurs during their series and also holding up signs of Stephen Jackson in prison stripes (he’s the headband-clad fellow throwing haymakers at fans here and the gentleman that shoots guns off in strip club parking lots as described here…So that one’s actually kind of funny).
There’s also this Kobe photo, referencing the rape allegations against him:
Essentially, these Mormons be wilin, son. Nahmean, cats is straight off the chain, dun.
In general, I’ve always felt NBA fans are a little tamer than most. The NFL is just brutal, from Oakland’s Black Hole to DC’s Hogs. And I may be biased since about 45 of the 50 or so MLB games I’ve been to have been played in either Yankee Stadium or Fenway (where “Jeter Has AIDS” t-shirts used to be prominent), but the NBA usually doesn’t get that bad either. Not anymore anyway…The widespread racism in arenas as recently as the 1980s is well-documented and was worse than anything in the Bronx in the past 40 years as far as I know.
Anyway, the point of this whole thing (surprise…there is one), is that as horrible as these Jazz fans are, NCAA fans are probably even worse. And to me, it’s about ten times as bad at that level since the fans are chastising 18-year-old kids to the point that a guy like Tennessee’s Chris Lofton didn’t even tell people he has cancer in part because he knew he would get mocked for having a testicle removed when he goes to play in Gainesville or Athens. At least Stephen Jackson and Derek Fisher ARE MEN…THEY ARE FORTY. The shit they have to put up with is deplorable, but it’s chastising “amateur” kids like that is taking it to another level of scumbagship.
SI took a pretty good look into how horrible college crowds are a few months ago. Here is the story by Grant Wahl.
And this is a list of some of the worst incidents from the past. These are probably the most heinous accounts:
• In February 1988, Arizona senior guard Steve Kerr was cruelly reminded of the murder of his father — Malcolm H. Kerr, the president of the American University of Beirut — by terrorists in Lebanon four years earlier. In a game against archrival Arizona State, in Tempe, Kerr was taunted by Sun Devils fans, who yelled “PLO, PLO.” (The Palestine Liberation Organization was never linked to the assassination.)
• Fifteen months after Maryland forward Herman Veal was accused of sexual misconduct toward another Maryland student, Duke’s Cameron Crazies wouldn’t let him forget it — even though formal charges were never filed against him. In a January 1984 game between the Terps and Blue Devils, Duke fans greeted Veal by throwing panties and condoms into the air when he was introduced, then yelled obscenities throughout the game.
• When Oregon visited Arizona in February 2006, several months had passed since Ducks coach Ernie Kent had denied rumors that he had had an extramarital affair. Yet whenever Kent’s son Jordan, a guard on the Oregon team, went to the free throw line, the Zona Zoo fan section chanted, “Who’s your mistress?”
And here is a photo gallery of some fans in action, although this one below will always be my favorite.
(On a much cheerier note…In looking for this SI story through Google, I may have found the greatest message board thread of all time. Post #9 is spectacular. And, yeah, probably NSFW…although you technically can’t see her howdoyoudo.)
Known Associates:
2008 NBA Playoffs,
Cpt. Jack,
FANNN-Tastic,
Fish,
Jazz,
Mamba
Who knows what was going through Kevin Harlan’s mind when he yelled that phrase after LeBron touched the sky (perhaps the Bill Simmons suicide watch?), but that call now ranks right up there with “a spec-TAC-u-lar move” and “…underneath to DJ and he lays it in” on the All-Time list.
Okay, maybe not. And yeah, he has used it before.
How ’bout them Celtics?
This is getting ridiculous. I think we all thought LeBron would take over a game or two and stretch this to six or maybe even seven games. But the Cavs are winning without him even doing anything other-worldly. Sure, he played well late, hit some big threes and had that “no regard for human life” dunk that embarrassed KG’s kids, but he still hasn’t even “gone Bron Bron” on the C’s.
The real question on everyone’s mind, however, is did we ever find out why he yelled at that lady to “sit your ass down” after Paul Pierce tried to tackle him into the fifth row? Was that actually his mom? Was it his grand-daughter? Chris Bosh’s girlfriend?
Really, who cares about Boston’s road woes. They’re probably not even getting past Detroit at this rate and they’re certainly not beating whoever survives the San Antonio/New Orleans/Los Angeles/Utah gauntlet.
So let’s just solve this mystery of King James and The Kingdom of the Sit Your Ass Down by morning, eh?
UPDATE: Turns out that really was his mom. Good work, Mystery Machine.
Known Associates:
2008 NBA Playoffs,
CB4,
Kevin Harlan,
KG,
LeBron
Just for full-disclosure’s sake, my man-crush on Chris Paul is already teatering on restraining order status.
But I haven’t really written about him because, really, what is there to say that hasn’t already been said?
He’s just flat-out ridiculous. As impressive as Tony Parker’s grit and quickness is out there, CP3 just looks like he’s playing a different sport from everyone else. He does things that no else is capable of doing with an ease that is simply mystifying.
He can do anything with a basketball and is in almost always in complete control. The kid freezes defenders not just with quickness (despite his abundance of it) but more so with a subtle, Barry Sanders-esque, stop-and-go stutter in his motion that literally leaves his opponent guessing at what his next action will be like they’re a World Cup goalie in a shoot-out. Sure, occassionaly they pick right and he doesn’t score or dish to an wide-open teamate at will…but overwhelmingly, the defender is just helpless.
All this would be bad enough for defenders on it’s own…but on top of that, he has one of the most creative minds the game has ever seen.
The beauty of watching basketball on TV is that you’re not on the court and caught up in the chaos, so you can sit there and see plays develop before the defenders know what’s coming. Over the years, if you watch enough ball, the patterns become ingrained and you see the game as geometric patterns of passing lanes, angles and space. And, by and large, this is all based on triangles. Meaning, a guy drives past his man and then a post defender instinctively hedges over to deter his penetration and angles are created — both to the hoop and for the pass. If there is enough space for the ball-handler to keep going, he usually does and scores. If that space is closed off — and if the offensive guys know what’s going on — space usually opens up for a dump off to the other guy. On the court, this is all somewhat chaotic and happening in fractions of a second. But from the traditional aerial cross-section view of the TV camera, you can see it develop and you usually know whether it’s going to result in a nice driving lay-up or a dump-off dunk.
But with Chris Paul, you often don’t even see anything develop before it happens. At all. He just easily goes by the guy guarding him, freezes two interior defenders and creates passing lanes that make either of the two different players open…and then he does a little half spin-dribble, stutter-step and leaves a bounce drop-pass to a third, cutting offensive player who just started slashing in from the opposite corner three-point line for a dunk. And this all happens slowly, calmly and collectedly, even though he’s twitching around and gyrating in the paint like a salmon on a river bank.
Just as we at home — and the defenders on the court — are trying to react and looking for the trianglular patterns we think he’s trying to exploit, this kid is playing with pentagons and has already created five passing lanes — any three of which will create a good look for a teammate.
It’s truly insane.
I’ve seen Magic, Zeke, Stockton, Bird, Kidd and Nash all do some pretty crazy “eyes in the back of their heads” type stuff. They always seemed to uncannily know where all nine other players on the court were at all times. They were/are all masters of space and timing and could create passing lanes out of thin air. They, too, always know where every angle is and how it’s constantly changing with every slight movement by any and every person on the court.
But with Chris Paul, you can’t get over the feeling that he knows all this…plus what the beer vendor is doing, how the air currents might be affected by the announcers talking and whether or not Byron Scott’s balls itch at any given moment.
His court awareness is just truly remarkable and his ability to create passing lanes is utterly unbelievable. He’s got pentagon vision in a triangular world.
Of course, some people think all this praise is coming too soon.
Or maybe, Chris Paul is just that good.
Known Associates:
2008 NBA Playoffs,
CP3,
Hornets
What a comeback by the Lakers in the last three minutes of regulation.
Big, big things out of Lamar Odom late. And all game, frankly.
It’s also kind of funny that all those people chastising LeBron for missing clutch lay-ups who used the “Kobe Bryant doesn’t miss that shot” argument should probably just stop talking for a while…maybe sit the next couple plays out.
Notable OT happenings:
- Kyle Elliot Korver picking up an offensive foul for throwing elbows 40 feet from the basket.
- An injured Kobe being yelled at to “Run the offense” by the Zen Master.
- Okur sticking a patented Okur dagger.
- Gasol with a sick post move to the other side of the hoop only to blow the dunk.
- Boozer mishandling a pass and turning it over with 3:00 minutes left as Utah is trying to go up four.
- Okur sticking a patented Okur dagger again (and again with his oafish toes on the line).
- Ivan Drago smacking a Kobe lay-up attempt into the 5th row.
- Gasol responding by blocking a weak Boozer post move attempt into the stands.
- Kobe breaking AK-47 down off the bounce to (surprisingly) score LA’s first FG of the OT with 1:20 left.
- Korver missing a fadaway three (that Kaleb thought was going in) but Okur grabbing the offensive board.
- Deron resetting after said offensive board and neglecting to pass to a struggling Boozer in a pick-and-roll, and instead finding a cutting Kirlenko who reverses the lay-up and dunks on Lamar’s head — plus the foul.
- Kobe finding a lane off the dribble, but again missing a lay-up. Shockingly, he thought he was fouled.
- Kyle drilling two free throws to ice it.
- Or wait…Kobe getting fouled shooting a three with 24.5 seconds left. Swish. Swish. Rattles in the third. LA now only down four.
- Deron going two-for-two from the line. Up six. Lamar dunking. K.E.K swishing two more free throws.
- Yeah. It’s over.
Great game. Series tied 2-2.
Now, let’s take it back to Los Angeles.
And more importantly…Your overtime heroes, ladies and gentlemen:
Known Associates:
2008 NBA Playoffs,
AK-47,
Carlos Boozer,
Deron Williams,
Kyle Korver,
Lamar Odom,
Mamba,
Mehmet Okur,
Pau Gasol
…just happened.
Ronnie Price just made Luke Walton look absolutely foolish.
Not as foolish as below, but pretty foolish nonetheless.
Maybe throw it down big fella next time, Junior.
“Hey dad.”
Known Associates:
2008 NBA Playoffs,
Bill Walton,
Luke Walton,
Ronnie Price
Am I the only one who thinks it’s spectacular that, for all the JKidd and Shaq hoopla, the Kyle Korver deal has turned out to be the second most important trade made this winter (after Gasol, of course)?
K.E.K. (the same initials shared by all four Korver boys…and supposedly all his cousins on the Korver side) just drilled two big shots from distance. He’s also the best free-throw shooter on a really good free-throw shooting team, which makes the Jazz one of the best closing teams in the NBA.
And no, it’s not just cause they have a lot of white guys, you racist.
Additionally, if you haven’t yet seen this interview, it’s worth 4:33 of your time. Not even Ricky Gervais or Ben Stiller could make this thing more awkward.
Known Associates:
2008 NBA Playoffs,
Jazz,
Kyle Korver
