Oh, Josh Hart. You pulled a fast one right here.
The New Orleans Pelicans were on their way to their first victory of the 2019-20 season, a 122-107 blowout of the Denver Nuggets. All they had to do was run the clock down and tell their opponents, “good game.” Except the shot clock would run down before the game clock did.
So Hart did what any sensible veteran NBA player would do: as the shot clock violation was about to be whistled, he handed the ball to rookie big man Jaxson Hayes, presumably to make it so that Hayes would be charged with the turnover, not Hart.
Check out Hayes’ reaction:
The funny thing about this is neither of them was charged with the turnover — it goes to the team on a shot clock violation:
Whatever, it’s a technicality. It’s still hysterical, and Hart’s ex-teammate Kyle Kuzma agreed:
And this has happened before — check out this move from earlier in the season:
