The Extra Player

Welcome to the first story of my blog. This one is going to be a weird one for me 1) because no one likes to talk about the Pelicans and 2) I don’t even know this guy’s name. Although this story is not the way I thought I would start I believe it will be the perfect fit. Anyhow buckle yourself in because this story is beautiful as it is out there… like waaaayyyy out there. This is the face of a legend.

So this story starts in the before game warm-up where each team with its respective players get the chance to loosen up before the high adrenaline game they are about to play. Everyone knows about it and truthfully there’s nothing too special about this mundane routine except for the occasional loose basketball smacking a player in the face. However, on this day in 2018 during the Pelican’s warm-up shoot-around before a game against Western Conference Rival, the Houston Rockets, one lucky slightly kooky fan decided it was his turn to be a part of the team. Any reason to be a Pelicans fan at this moment is beyond my understanding. The team was subpar posting a 22-28 record before this night and not to mention their star player Anthony Davis was sitting out due to injury. Well, the injury is just part of that story because after Davis had healed from his apparent injury he still stayed out because of trade disputes. That’s another story for another time and that one is pretty weird too.

So as the story goes a fan dressed as a New Orleans Pelicans player runs onto the court casually and confidant in his ability to blend in, and he even does a few leg stretches before being passed the ball. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Who would pass the ball to someone they’ve never played with? Wouldn’t they know its not their teammate?” Those are ABSOLUTELY valid questions because you and I are not the only ones to ask these questions. Alas, I did not come here with any answers for you, just the message, it is up to you to come up with the answers for yourself. So back to the story, super fan catches a ball thrown to him by some unsuspecting ball boy or player or someone in between… and he takes his shot. I can just imagine how magical it must have been to shoot a shot with your favorite team, in warm-ups, with absolutely no one knowing who you are. As the ball came down, getting ever closer to the net until it BRICKED… how sad. The culmination of all his effort resulted in a missed shot, but he did not miss his opportunity to do something that he can tell his grandchildren about. That’s when the security guard finally noticed something was off about this guy and escorted him back to his seat with probably a stern talking to. Happily, though he was not escorted out of the game and made it big on Twitter and ESPN. The whole altercation lasted 19 seconds, but for 19 seconds that lucky fan was an NBA Star. You know that this altercation with the fan could have gotten out of hand, but I think that there was some good to this story. That night the New Orleans Pelicans beat a very talented Houston Rockets team. So maybe just maybe Superfan ended up being a good luck charm.

Update: Through some more rigorous research I have found a name to match the face of Superfan, Tony Douglas. Douglas is a comedian from Detroit who apparently was filling in for injured Demarcus Cousins who was out for the year. Just a little side note!

If you have stuck around this far I hope you will continue to follow me throughout this exciting journey of research that I hope to provide. Feel free to leave a comment about some weird stories from the NBA or any sport for that matter. See y’all next time, James.