Eric Bledsoe Simply Forgot One of the Most Basic Rules in Basketball
What a brain fart
Eric Bledsoe has been in the NBA for 10 years, and yet he still broke one of basketball’s most simple rules in the Bucks’ win over the Clippers last night.
Early in the fourth quarter, the referee handed Bledsoe the ball out of bounds and Bledsoe decided to put it in play by... simply dribbling it up the court?
Clippers color commentator Corey Maggette was incredulous.
“Wait a minute, did you just see what Eric Bledsoe just did?” an astonished Maggette asked. “He dribbled the basketball—wait, wait, wait. I’m sorry, that’s a Shaqtin’.”
Over on ESPN, play-by-play man Mark Jones actually missed what Bledsoe did.
“Let’s take a look at exactly what they did here,” Jones said. Then he looked at the replay, chuckled, and asked, “Was he playing on the blacktop?”
It’s embarrassing, but it happens. Back in 2017, Russell Westbrook forgot an even more basic part of the game: dribbling.
The good news for Bledsoe is that the blooper occurred early enough in the game that it didn’t cost the Bucks. Milwaukee hung on to beat the Clippers, 129–124, behind a dominant performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Baker didn’t earn his whiskers
Here’s what Baker Mayfield looked like when he arrived at the stadium for Sunday’s game against the Broncos.
Here’s what he looked like once the game started.
Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports
And here’s what he looked like in his postgame presser.
One day, three facial hair styles.
Mayfield explained yesterday that the dorky postgame mustache was a direct result of the Browns’ loss.
“The original thought for me, do handlebars,” Mayfield told reporters Wednesday. “I was undefeated before Sunday with the handlebar mustache. So I shaved it off because I didn’t deserve it.”
Trubisky is sick of the critics
Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports
Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was one of the biggest surprises in the NFL last season. After an unimpressive rookie season in 2017, Trubisky was just competent enough for the Bears to ride a strong defense to a 12–4 record.
But this year, Trubisky stinks. He’s averaging only 5.6 yards per attempt and has thrown just five touchdowns in seven games for a 3–5 Chicago team.
The disappointing performance has Trubisky taking lots of heat in the local and national media. So how is he dealing with it? By turning off the televisions in the team’s facility so the players don’t have to hear what everyone is saying.
“I’ve done pretty good with that,” Trubisky said. “Trying to get some of these TVs in the building turned off because you've got too many people talking on TV about us and what they think about us, what we should do, what we are and what we're not. But they don't really know who we are or what we're capable of as people or what we’re going through or what we're thinking. It’s just the outside viewers looking in. So, tunnel vision, earmuffs and just come to work every day and try to get better and get back to what we know we’re capable of doing.”
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