Andre Roberson is a very valuable role player for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 25-year-old earned a three-year, $30 million contract in the offseason based largely on his immense defensive contributions and, in short, the Thunder need him to be productive to reach their ceiling as a team.
With that said, Roberson is not a shooter and Chris Paul knows it. On Tuesday, the Thunder faced off against the Houston Rockets in a preseason matchup and, early in the second quarter, Roberson received a cross-court pass in wide-open shooting position from beyond the arc.
Only Paul had even a chance to close out on him. But instead of doing that with aggressiveness, the future Hall of Fame point guard waved him off in dismissive fashion.
As you can see, Roberson’s shot went begging and, if you can hear the audio, it sounds an awful lot like Paul screaming “Hell Nah!” after the attempt failed to draw rim. It isn’t rare to hear an NBA star deliver trash talk on the floor but this is about as singularly dismissive as you will hear a player be of another player in a specific area of the game.
Paul is known for his single-minded competitiveness but this one is just different. You have to feel for Roberson given his career 26 percent shooting mark from beyond the arc but, in the NBA, this isn’t the only time he’ll be left open on purpose this season. It’s fair, though, to think that he won’t be yelled at every time in this way.
