Flash was back Friday night, in a big, weird way. Three-pointers? Dwyane Wade? The notoriously inaccurate shooter from deep connected on two triples in the final frame and the Heat are heading back to Miami for a Game 7 Sunday matinee when NBA fans will still be rubbing the crusty’s out of their eyes.
Something peculiar happened between Wade and a court-side Hornets fan in the fourth quarter of Game 6, too. The purple-shirted gentleman donning a backpack like he was headed to soccer practice or the head shop, started jawing with Wade right when the three-time champion was busy sealing the game for the Heat.
“He was over there telling me I should retire,” Wade told ESPN.com after the game. “I’m like, ‘Whatever. Not yet.’ But he was on me.”
When Wade was asked about it on the podium after the game, he had already moved on. “I’m not going to give that guy any more attention,” he said.
Hassan Whiteside was asked about him after the game, but Heat interloper cut him off before he could say what he wanted.
That moment when @youngwhiteside is about to say something about Purple Shirt Guy and gets blocked #Heat pic.twitter.com/kv7ZXiaj4b
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) April 30, 2016
And–aww sh*t, are we agreeing with Mark Jackson now?
We are. Damn. Well, here goes:
Dear person wealthy or lucky enough to sit courtside during a playoff game. Please, don’t do this, especially if you crashed at Camron’s pad the night before and didn’t pack an extra button-down (this is the one time we encourage adults to wear jerseys).
There’s plenty of reasons why a fan shouldn’t do this, but we’ll boil it down to three:
- You aren’t an award-winning filmmaker with a decades-long history with the Hornets. You’re a doofy kid in a purple shirt and backpack.
- Dwyane Wade might be a long way from the 2006 Finals MVP, but he’s still Dwyane f*cking Wade. Why tempt fate like this unless you’re not a real fan? By that we mean, even if you aren’t superstitious, are you that hard up for attention you’re willing to risk inflaming an all-time great just to get a little TV time? Yes, Wade doesn’t need any more incentive than an early summer, but why even risk it? Dummy.
- Don’t verbally attack players when you resemble Billy Zabka’s character from Karate Kid. You’re perpetuating the blonde hair headband stereotype, thereby ruining headbands for blonde men everywhere.
We will give Purple Shirt Guy credit for one thing: at least he didn’t try and high-five Wade later in the game.
But we hope the Hornets keep him off the first row in the Conference Semifinals if they somehow survive a Game 7 on the road that Purple Shirt Man might’ve been at least partially responsible for causing.
(ESPN.com)
