Which Air Ball Was Worse: Shabazz Muhammad’s Jam, Or Cole Aldrich’s Hook?

It seemed like we saw these within the same five-minute span as we were looking at clips from tonight. The first one we caught was Shabazz Muhammad, who snuck into the paint unguarded and completely missed the iron on his dunk attempt. Then there was poor Knicks center, Cole Aldrich, who Deadspin called a goober, after he missed a hook shot so wide right the ball ends up breaking all known physical laws and hits the back of the backboard. But which one was worse? We have the answer after the jump.

Here’s Aldrich with the jump hook to…nowhere, which gave Kris Humphries the giggles on the bench.

//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js

The Knicks were without Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith or Iman Shumpert (who would have been inactive even if he hadn’t been traded to Cleveland) and lose to the Wizards 101-91. As a starter, Aldrich played over 31 minutes, scored 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Decent, but not enough to make us question the goober designation.

Then again, ‘Melo probably had a different word in mind after witnessing Aldrich’s attempt.

***

Shabazz Muhammad is still playing and his T-Wolves trail the Suns 88-84 with seven plus minutes left in the game. His air ball came on an easier attempt than Aldrich’s sad skyhook, but even though he misses the rim completely, it actually turns out OK for him. The ball sails over the rim and right to an open Mo Williams in the corner, who promptly knocks down the short three:

//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js

Not sure if Muhammad will be credited with an assist, but the fact it turned out so well for him makes his air ball less gruesome than Aldrich’s hook shot.

(top GIF via Deadspin)

Which one was worse?

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.

×