Sometimes, the numbers lie.
Aaron Brooks is a full foot shorter than Robin Lopez but he had no problem blocking the Chicago Bulls 7-footer on Monday night.
There’s just something so odd about watching a short (you know, for an NBA player) guy get massive ups and reject a Noted Tall Person. The optics of it just looks all wrong. I keep watching the replay and expecting something different to happen, but Lopez got got by a short guy. It’s wild.
Brooks comes out of nowhere in the replay and somehow doesn’t foul Lopez as he went to the rim with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter. The block was so clean Brooks came down with the basketball and started the play up the floor. Basically, he rebounded a shot that never came.
I still don’t understand what happened here. This doesn’t seem real, and it’s starting to make me plumb the depths of my soul. Are numbers real? Can 6-footers soar past the 7-foot giants, chained to this cosmic rock by gravity and hubris? Is this a sign that short players will inherit the NBA, or simply a fluke play hidden within the chaos of this universe’s endless mysteries?
Anyway, great block Aaron Brooks. Keep up the good work.