I’m pretty sure that I’m the one to blame. I caught up with the Jazz / Cavs game “in progress” after I got home from some Saturday errands. It was during the first half, in a see-saw battle, when they showed a stat that said something like “LeBron James needs 38 points to become the youngest NBA player to 5,000 points”, and I immediately thought to myself, “Good…at least he won’t get it against the Jazz”.
Oops, my bad.
No doubt about it, King James was awesome in the second half. He played well in the first, but he really found a rhythm in the second half, and kept making play after play. Even on the “you breathed on him” foul on Kirilenko when he surpassed 5,000, it was an impressive play. And boy, can that guy fly.
Quick interuption here: I don’t plan on saying too much about the Jazz / Nuggets game. There isn’t much to say. When you go into an arena with the chance to pull ahead of that team for first place in the standings, and you leave with a 30-point whupping, I mean WOW. They were ice-cold in the first quarter, Carmelo Anthony finally lived up to some of his hype, and the Jazz just got worked. Blown opportunity for sure, but the Nuggets are playing as well as anyone right now. Interruption over.
Back to the Cavs game, and I was spared most of the fourth quarter thanks to some “Daddy” responsibilities, which was a good thing. I didn’t feel like cleaning up my own vomit off of the floor (instead of my daughter’s) after I saw a Delta Center standing ovation for LeBron. Seriously, I might have booted all over my carpet if I had seen that.
Now I can appreciate a good performance by a visiting player. My top 3 “enemy” player performances that I saw live in the Delta Center:
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3. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls, 1995-96 season
This is the Bulls team that went 72-10. MJ had something like 40 points, and even though the Jazz gave them one of those 10 losses for the year, it was an amazing performance to watch.
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2. Kenny Smith, Houston Rockets, Game 2, 1995 playoffs
The Jazz were primed to go deep into the playoffs. I had made the mistake of making a date with a girl that I liked on that day, so I thought that I would solve the problem by scalping tickets and taking her to the game. The Jazz were leading going into halftime, when the earth shifted on it’s axis, and threw everything in my life into a tailspin. Kenny Smith hit 8 three-pointers, demoralizing the Jazz and eventually running them out of the first round, the girl started acting really weird, all kinds of bizarre things…this is very well documented amongst my friends. Shook my whole life up for about six months. Anyway…
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1. Mahmoud Abdul-Raouf, Denver Nuggets, 1990
This was one of those games back when I was in high school, and my buddies and I decided to go to a game at the last minute. We went down to the box office and got nosebleed seats. We were so late, in fact, that the three of us sat on three aisle seats, one right after the other. So, Abdul-Raouf goes crazy, getting 53 points, running off of screen after screen. Probably the best shooting performance I’ve ever seen, and definitely the best performance by a guy named Chris Jackson who gave himself a Muslim name and has Tourett’s Syndrome. My only disappointment was not being close enough to the court to hear his unintentional curse words as he lit up the Jazz.
So, I can appreciate a good performance, even if it isn’t by someone in a Jazz jersey. And LeBron was fantastic. He had several great finishes at the hoop, he hit a couple of “heat check” jumpers, basically everything was clicking. But a standing-O? Iverson had 46 a few weeks ago in the DC, and there was no standing ovation. I can think of two situations which would merit a standing ovation: first, a final “farewell” game for someone like Dr. J, who was 100% class, or even some like Magic Johnson, because the crowd would no longer have to worry about him spraying blood into the stands if he got hit in the nose. And second, a “once-in-a-lifetime” game, something that may never be seen again. Even the Laker fans got off their cell phones long enough last night to give Kobe and standing ovation after his 81 points. I’d clap for that, and I think that Kobe is a horrible teammate, mediocre husband, and an excellent rapist.
In other words, when I saw Jordan play, he’d have to have 150 points, jump from the 3-point line and dunk, and then I’d probably stand and clap. The only other way you’d get me out of my seat when he was leaving the game would be to pour hydrochloric acid in my lap.
The reason that LeBron got the ovation was due to the huge amounts of “non-Jazz” fans in the crowd. Everytime King James did something, he got a huge cheer. I’ve BEEN to Laker Games where entire sections of the crowd cheered for Kobe, and all the bandwagon fans walked around in brand-new jerseys and hats. So once LeBron did his damage, all of his supporters came to their feet, and every other uneducated Jazz fan did the same. Any true blue Jazz fanatic who just watched someone dismantle their team, and then got on their feet deserve to have their Rich Kelly green-and-gold throwback jersey ripped off of their back.
As for me, I’m sitting down. Let’s hope there aren’t any ovations for Vince Carter tonight…