I’m warning you now. This article will contain spoilers. You ready for that? Good. Tyrese Haliburton made a shot with .3 of a second left last night to put the Indiana Pacers ahead in the game for good. I was watching live on my phone while passing out on a couch. Took me a while to get to sleep after that, but that’s life in the playoffs. I don’t know how Hali keeps doing it, but he does.
Dwyane Wade was a little more locked in than I was on that final play. I know this. I have video proof. None of that AI stuff. Pure, old school, digital video. He was locked in probably because he’s a really good basketball player who played in the NBA Finals, and I worked at Planet Fitness for two years. I love seeing former players be fans of the modern game. Please watch this video, just so you can receive some vicarious joy today.
My favorite part is the end, where he just repeats “Superstar!” three times. I was lucky enough to have my parents over for hoop and snacks during the first half yesterday, and my dad remarked that he felt the term superstar had been somewhat diluted over the years. I’m not sure this shot will be enough for him to think Hali has joined that particular tier, but he and Dwyane can disagree.
Superstar or not, Tyrese is blowing minds this postseason
I have another video for you. This is of Philadelphia rookie Jared McCain watching the game, but the fact he's a little more anonymous makes it better. He and his buddies in the clip -they are all of us, except Oklahoma City fans. And I guess New York Fans. And maybe Cleveland fans. Now that I think about it, probably not Milwaukee fans either. But, you know, they’re everyone else. Anyone watching basketball and being extremely entertained game after game.
These entire playoffs have been so, so fun. I’ll admit, I saw this series going 4-1 in OKC’s favor. I wanted Indiana to win just because they’ve been so fun to follow, but I didn’t even see them making it out of the first round. I don’t know a thing.
I’m so happy to be wrong. I hope to continue being wrong.