The Brooklyn Nets headed to Detroit on Friday night to take on the upstart Pistons. With Brooklyn leading by double digits during the third quarter, James Harden found himself in a situation where all he had to do was bend over and pick up a basketball that was rolling directly in front of him.
That, however, did not happen, for some reason. Harden tried to take Saddiq Bey 1-on-1, but the second-year forward poked the ball away from him. It rolled into the backcourt, where Harden sprinted after it before the ball was at his feet.
At this point, one would think he’d just pick it up and go about his business, but for one reason or another, he kinda just stood there and seemed like he thought it was going to roll out of bounds? Anyway, Harden didn’t realize that Bey saw him slow down and started chasing after the ball, and Bey scooped it up, took a few dribbles, and got a pretty easy dunk.
lmao Harden just let them have it pic.twitter.com/zqJAwDP3iw
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 6, 2021
Ian Eagle called this a “mental mistake” by the former league MVP. That very well might be the case, or something else could have happened here. Whatever the case may be, hopefully Harden addresses it after the game, because it’s a unique one.
