Being a mop boy is one of the more underrated jobs on any basketball court. With players dripping sweat on the slick wooden floor, mopping the court constantly is a way to avoid dangerous falls from players. During the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder, a few mop boys learned about the dangers of their jobs.
Jordan McLaughlin of the Timberwolves was minding his own business, stealing the ball from a Thunder player and running what seemed to be a routine fastbreak attempt. However, he suddenly found himself being guarded by a mop boy who was trying to clean up the mess left behind. The result was two missed attempts and the ball going back to OKC. (via SportsCenter)
The Thunder court cleaners put on the CLAMPS 🤣 pic.twitter.com/NPYsuwCPIw
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 5, 2022
To be fair to the mop boys, they were caught blindsided by the action. They were doing a routine mopping after the Thunder gained possession of the ball. However, perhaps too engrossed by their important task, they didn't notice McLaughlin pressuring the offense and getting possession back for the Timberwolves. The rest, as they say, is history.
Luckily for the Timberwolves, the mop boy gaffe didn't impact the results that much. All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns and co. would cruise to an easy 138 – 101 win behind a balanced effort from their stars. The Thunder defense was helpless; so helpless, in fact, that some people called the mop boys the best defenders OKC fielded on the court today.
Only ones on their team playing defense tonight
— pain (@MVPWigginsSZN) March 5, 2022
Thunder fans should start a petition to sign these two to a 10-day contract. They played great defense when put under duress, something that is valuable in today's league.