Video: O.J. Mayo ties his shoelaces rather than play defense; Nuggets score
O.J. Mayo did not display this type of effort on defense Thursday. (Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images)
Look, O.J. Mayo. We get it.
The Bucks are 10-44. You've lost your starting job. You're having your worst season as a pro. And you're now clinging to your spot in the rotation despite being the highest-paid player on the worst team in the league. Your Bucks are 3-19 since New Year's Day. It's cold as hell outside. And your one glimmer of hope, the NBA trade deadline, faded away on Thursday and you're still stuck in Wisconsin.
But this is inexcusable.
As the headline suggests, rather than play defense in the third quarter of the Bucks' 101-90 loss to the Nuggets on Thursday, Mayo tied shoes. He literally stopped what he was doing, bent down, and tied his shoelaces. While the Nuggets had the ball. And were running a play.
Needless to say, Denver took advantage of the obvious 5-on-4 opportunity and scored with ease. In 23 minutes of play, Mayo finished with 11 points, three rebounds, a plus-minus rating of -11 and one memorable video of him not giving a flying Buck.
To Mayo's credit, Nuggets guard Randy Foye didn't exactly try to exploit the matchup. Maybe there's some kind of unspoken rule NBA shooting guards.
