The Friendly Bounce Belt: Courtney Lee is the inaugural champion of awesome

Hello, and welcome to a new project here on The Friendly Bounce.

On a lot of sites across the internet, you’ll find power rankings, and power rankings are cool, but do we really need one more site giving you their thought on who the best teams are in a given week? No, not really, but see, we still think power rankings are a fun thing. And so, since our mission on The Friendly Bounce is to cover everything good and fun and exciting about the league, we thought we would create our own power rankings—but not for teams, for awesome moments.

With that being said, we proudly present The Friendly Bounce Belt.

Each week this prestigious belt will be awarded to the most awesome moment that takes place in the NBA world–on or off the court.

The Champ: Courtney Lee’s Buzzer Beater

I didn’t actually see it live because I turned the game off once Ben McLemore got fouled (haha, NERD), but that buzzer beater from Lee was ridiculous. He was so wide open, but Vince Carter’s pass was way off, so it looked like the Grizzlies were done. But then Lee came swooping in to catch and throw it back up from an absurd angle and somehow it counted.

The Contenders

Amanda Seyfried’s thoughts on the Knicks

“First time at a basketball game… I don’t need to come back.” Sometimes the #hottakes are just the right temperature.

The Minnesota Timberwolves-Parks and Recreation mash-up

There really isn’t too much to say here, just phenomenal, phenomenal work.

This Anthony Davis picture

Wow. You know how we do Anthony Davis Alert? This is why, because he does impossible things like this.

Terrence Ross throwing down this alley-oop

I still have no idea how he pulled this off. The view from behind the play is amazing. He catches that pass outside of the backboard and still slams it home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thee1Y6BynU

Trey Burke’s buzzer beater

What an incredible shot. Step back, with a hand right in his face and he drills it at the buzzer, in Madison Square Garden. Plus he hit it right in front of his own bench, which just added to the coolness as his teammates mobbed him immediately.

Amar’e Stoudemire getting hit in the face with the ball

Oh man, almost a week later and this is still amazing.

Kevin Love’s outlet pass

We all know about Love’s outlet passing, but it’s still incredible to see him throw one like this. Perfection in motion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KDstPq58yY

Tony Allen trying to enter the game with his warm-up shirt on, and Tony Allen almost punching a ref right in the face.

Lol. Classic Trick or Treat Tony Allen pulling a few tricks.

Chris Webber imitating Avery Johnson, and Ernie Johnson imitating Shaq

This is so great, and it’s what makes the TNT and NBATV shows so much fun to watch. All of the guys have such a great rapport that it doesn’t even seem like you’re watching a TV show.