Midway through the second quarter of Sunday’s All-Star game, Stephen Curry caught a lead pass from Joel Embiid in transition. Rather than take a dribble and attack an awaiting Kevin Durant at the rim, the Golden State Warriors star caught the ball and bounced it high off the ground, over the outstretched arms of Durant. Instead of lofting out of bounds, the ball managed to find its way into the right hand of a Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who caught the ball while airborne and slammed it through the rim in one fell swoop of ingenuity, skill, and athleticism.
It was an instant classic in an All-Star game full of highlights, the type that will be played on a loop for years as the league promotes its annual mid-season exhibition.
Don't give Curry too much credit on the play in question, however. According to Antetokounmpo, he only had to sky so high and reach so far to corral the ball because Curry threw a “bad pass.”
Giannis said that Steph's alley-oop bounce pass in the All-Star Game was bad 😂 pic.twitter.com/I4cFCMbAig
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 22, 2019
Antetokounmpo is known for his ceaseless competitiveness and unrelenting drive to improve. Perhaps he expects perfection out of his teammates, even in the All-Star setting? If so, that would really, really be a shame. How would the Greek Freak test the limits of his otherworldly athleticism if all the lob passes coming his way were thrown with pinpoint accuracy?
Keep throwing those “bad passes,” Steph. The basketball world, obviously, craves the highlights they accidentally create.
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