The Fast Break: Why there's nothing wrong with poking fun at Anthony Bennett's play
On Sunday, Roy Hibbert took exception to a now viral image of Anthony Bennett's face on Wilt Chamberlain's body, celebrating his career-high 15-point game as opposed to Wilt's 100-point game.
While Hibbert's support for a struggling, young big man is admirable and shows the level of camaraderie that exists among NBA players (though he had to realize that including the image would only help it spread), his tweet that whoever made the image "is wrong for this" is ridiculous.
Being a professional athlete shouldn't open players up to unwarranted personal insults (though we know it does), but there's absolutely nothing wrong with poking fun at a player's professional performance. These guys are paid quite handsomely to play basketball for a living. Sure, there's pressure, some sacrifices and probably a bit of culture shock for the younger players getting acclimated to the NBA lifestyle, but fans shouldn't be made to feel guilty for finding some humor in a player's on-court struggles.
The fact that Bennett's play has drawn ridicule doesn't mean that everyone criticizing him has given up on him halfway through his rookie season. He's still a young big man with plenty of time to figure things out, and plenty of fans and pundits alike understand that. But the No. 1 overall pick is currently having a slightly worse rookie season than Rafael Araujo, on a dysfunctional team that's been one of the jokes of the first half to boot, so spare us the sob story about being 'wrong' for having some fun with that.
About last night...
Celtics 96, Magic 89 - Jared Sullinger had 21 points and 12 rebounds, giving him 45 points and 29 boards over his last two games.
Line of the night: Rajon Rondo - 19 Pts (9/11 FG, 1/3 3PT), 10 Ast, 6 Reb, 3 Stl, 4 TO in 27 mins.
Play of the night:
***
The Fast Break Player of the Week: Kevin Love - 33.0 PPG, 14.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 50.6 FG%, 2-2 record
Previous winners: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin
On tap tonight: After just one game on the schedule yesterday, the NBA gets back to normal with 11 games on the go tonight, headlined by a playoff rematch between the Thunder and Grizzlies from Oklahoma City that again features a Westbrook-less OKC team. Other games to keep an eye on include Blazers/Wizards, Spurs/Pelicans, Clippers/Nuggets and Bulls/Kings.