Good evening, basketball fans, and welcome to another edition of The Best Plays You’ve Never Seen Before! In this post you will find awesome highlights with only a few Youtube views, including an unusual alley-oop to Kevin Garnett, a flashy pass from Shaun Livingston, and a monster dunk over the greatest defender of all-time. The digging has been done for you… all you’ve got to do is scroll down and press play!
Let us begin with the aforementioned pass by Shaun Livingston, a onetime Los Angeles Clipper (although he’s wearing a Buffalo Braves throwback here). The footage is rather grainy, causing the play to look pretty routine… but watch carefully as Livingston throws ball and head fakes prior to whipping the rock around his back. He actually spins David Wesley in a circle.
David Wesley sure seemed to find himself in a lot of humiliating situations. Similar to how some players have a “nose for the ball,” I suppose Wesley simply had a knack for being clowned. Poor guy.
Moving right along, here’s Paul Pierce one-hand mashing all over Chris Kaman. Please disregard the ugliest travel of a spin move I’ve ever seen by… uh… who was that, anyway? Dana Barros wore #13 for the Cs in ’04, but that doesn’t really look like him.
Ugly setup or not, that was a nasty jam. Even back then Paul Pierce was kind of a sneaky dunker, so I’m going to assume Chris Kaman did not foresee this facial. What an unpleasant surprise.
For the featured play, here’s the oldest clip ever to be part of TBPYNSB. Being that you’re reading this blog, which perpetually exists in the decade that was ’96-’06, the chances that you watched the ’68 Finals are very slim… so check out Elgin Baylor banging on Bill Russell.
For all the talk of his incredible defense, you don’t hear much about Bill Russell trying to draw charges. I guess this is why he just swatted everything instead.
Next up, it’s the Big Ticket! Watch as a spry KG turns Troy Hudson’s afterthought into a successful lob pass…
What I’d like to know is this: how the hell did whoever uploaded this video confuse Troy Hudson for Juan Dixon? Juan Dixon never rocked dreadlock pigtails, nor did he play for the Timberwolves or release a rap record that sold 78 copies in its first week.
Finally, batting clean up in this edition will be Vince Carter. With an assist from his cousin, Tracy McGrady, he knocks this lob out of the park…
You know what’s crazy about Vince Carter? This dude did so many ridiculous dunks that you could put together a highlight reel using only the ones that get overlooked and it would still be one of the greatest dunk compilations ever. I’m not exaggerating, either. When it comes to highlights, the sheer volume VC produced is remarkable. To enter his name into Youtube is basically to discover a never ending library of basketball material. For this, I love Vince Carter.
The Celtics’ #13 looks to me like Mike James. Thanks for the highlights!