Bigs aren’t supposed to be able to do this.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have made it their mission to draft as many players who can do as many things as possible. A traditional center? Don’t even think about it. A 7-foot ball handler with magical passing? Sign them up. It’s like the Drake meme, but with Sam Presti’s face photoshopped over the rapper.
In the Thunder’s 113-107 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets to close out the preseason, the aforementioned Aleksej Pokusevski and 6-foot-8 center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl pulled off an exhilarating two-man passing clinic that would make Nuggets star Nikola Jokic proud.
Again — bigs don’t do this.
NOW THAT'S SOME MAGIC@aleksejpokusevs ↔️ @JCREarl pic.twitter.com/cEsATvnjFS
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 15, 2021
Pokusevski dribbles behind the back, bounces the ball between his legs and taps the pass behind his back — all without using his right hand. Without stopping his motion, he flies into the lane.
The ball finds Robinson-Earl, who immediately shifts it to his right hand and fires a one-handed, side-arm bounce pass around his defender and into the lane for a give-and-go.
Pokusevski slightly overran the rim, but the pass is good enough and the Serbian is long enough to grab it and lay it in from the other side of the basket.
It was masterful. Twitter reacted in suit.
I’m gonna need a minute. https://t.co/IKaUbNHSU2
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) October 15, 2021
It’s gonna a fun time rooting for my boys this year https://t.co/5IVtGcakY8
— Valley T 🤟🏾 (Pats szn) (@Thatguyytre10) October 15, 2021
@badman_nastee @TheRealBIGBrown LORD HAVE MERCY !!!! https://t.co/8lWLPI4pcN
— Baby Spooky (@ttn2xsicko) October 15, 2021
PUMP IT INTO MY VEINS https://t.co/258G93XbwJ
— Mitch Stover (@thebigstove) October 15, 2021
素晴らしい https://t.co/ZSPHtaBChf
— みつヒコ (@mitsuhiko_NBA) October 15, 2021
Those two weren’t the only to show off their passing. Rookie forward/guard Josh Giddey drove into the lane, took to the air and passed around the defender to hit Mike Muscala, who finished the easy layup.
It’s OK to feel bad for Nuggets big Zeke Nnaji, who was at the defensive receiving end of both remarkable plays from the young Thunder players.
Oklahoma City couldn’t get the win, but there were positives for the second game in a row against Denver.
