We can’t show these enough, even if an outlet pass isn’t as sexy as a monstrous dunk, or a blistering dribble move. But there’s an art in the outlet pass, and Kevin Love has become the NBA’s Jeff Koons — turning the banal into the beautiful and transcendent. On Wednesday night, Love snagged the rebound away from his own teammate, Nikola Pekovic, and found a streaking Kevin Martin for the reverse layup. The timing and trajectory of the pass has to be just so, like the tulips in Koons’ Puppy.
It’s not so much that Love wrestles it away from Pek. It’s that he’s obviously thinking about the ensuing outlet pass as he’s getting a grip on the ball because it comes right away. Like Love might have even known Pek also had the ball under control, but he was in a hurry to find Martin on the other end, so he just took it from him. That’s what makes Love an outlet savant, even if it dampens the rebounding totals of some of his teammates.
What do you think?
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