GIF: Why Cory Jefferson’s Air Ball Is The Worst

The Nets announcers were being kind after Nets rookie Cory Jefferson threw up a three-pointer against Chicago last night that seemed to deflate halfway to the basket. His air ball was one of the more atrocious shots we’ve ever seen, but as Ballislife notes, there are plenty of other contenders for the worst shot so far this year. Still, this one was so bad, the Nets announcers though Jefferson must have been looking to pass.

Here’s Jefferson’s doozy of an air ball, and we can’t really find any teammate — aside from maybe Jarrett Jack — who Jefferson might have decided to pass too halfway through his jumper.

But Ballislife has a couple other examples, including one of Jefferson’s teammates, Mirza Teletovic who drew nothing but air on a trio of consecutive shots against Detroit in February of 2013:

While it’s noticeable because Teletovic kept missing the iron on three consecutive possessions, none of those air balls were as bad as the one Jefferson unloaded last night.

Perhaps this Blake Griffin laugher against the Warriors in January of 2013 will qualify — this was before he’d worked on the hitch in his shot:

Bad, sure, since he’s wide open for that short corner three, but we still think Jefferson’s shot was worse.

Perhaps the only contender is Patrick Beverley‘s shot that hit the frame behind the backboard:

Except, as the announcers mention, Manu Ginobili popped out to contest the attempt and affected the shot. Jefferson was all alone on his air ball.

Crap, this Jefferson air ball is probably the worst we’ve seen in a long time. Hopefully, the rookie recovers.