It is Valentine's Day. Some people are buying roses at the grocery store, but we are looking at the All Star Skills challenge. It is a time for players to show they can dribble around giant neon obstacles, which is exactly like real basketball, except for the lack of defense and the neon.
Christian Koloko (CMB) played exactly one minute in the first game of the Rising Stars challenge and then did not play at all in the final. People are worried about his finger injury. I once jammed my finger opening a bag of pretzels, and I still think about it whenever I see a snack food. Perhaps the stakes are lower for me than for a professional athlete.
The Towering Opportunity
There is a conversation happening about signing Tacko Fall because the Raptors could use a big man. Tacko Fall is very tall, which is generally considered an advantage in this sport. If you are seven feet six inches tall, you do not really have to jump, you just have to exist and reach upward.
I appreciate the simplicity of a player like Tacko. He reminds me of the time my uncle tried to put the star on the Christmas tree without a ladder. He failed, but the effort was noble. We often look for complex solutions when the answer might just be the tallest person in the room.
Historical Grievances and Retail Careers
People are still sharing images of Vince Carter getting outplayed by the Raptor mascot. It is a strange thing to remember on a day meant for love. Some say that is why he left Toronto, because losing to a giant red inflatable dinosaur is a psychological weight no man can truly carry.
The internet is also suggesting that Chris Paul (CP24) has a future as a Walmart greeter. He would be very organized at it. He would probably tell you which aisle the lightbulbs are in before you even knew you needed them. That is the kind of floor generalship that transcends the court.
Basketball is a game of runs, as they say. Sometimes the run takes you to the All Star Game, and sometimes it takes you to the local department store to welcome people to the home goods section. Both are valid. We are all just trying to find our spots on the floor.