Players are under no obligation to ‘high five’ or ‘dap’ fans who hold their hand out as teams head from the court to the locker room – especially at an away game following a loss. So you can understand the frustration of Marc Gasol when a really cool, clever, and not-at-all childish opposing fan pulled his hand back as the Spanish big man reached for it following the Memphis Grizzlies’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
The video begins just as the fan – seemingly college-aged, wearing a backwards trucker hat and monochrome blue – raises his hand to his head in exaggeration of disrespecting Gasol. Marc, as you can see, was none too pleased:
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Yikes.
Gasol might have overreacted. He surely sees and hears fans do similarly dumb things on a nightly basis. But try and understand his point of view: Memphis had just lost a tough game; Gasol was undoubtedly upset; then he unsuspectingly grants an adult – note the emphasis – fan ‘five’ only to have his sportsmanship taken advantage.
We wouldn’t have found it very amusing, either.
But hey, at least Atlanta found a fan! Considering his pathetic attempt at humor, though, we doubt he’s the type of follower the Hawks really want to attract.
(H/T r/nba)
What do you think?
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