by Micah Hart
What a shortened, yet still very long, strange trip it’s been. In a season that felt like we inhaled on Christmas Day, only to exhale roughly two hours ago, I’m already counting down the days until we start this whole thing over again in November.
But before we start dreaming of a fresh start, let’s pause for a few moments to remember some of the fun and funny we had over the course of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, which started somewhat slowly but picked up speed to the thrilling conclusion that was the Finals series between the victorious Heat and vanquished Thunder.
Here’s a look back at the 10 most amusing moments from the last seven weeks:
10. Amar’e channels Andy Bernard
The Knicks had a lot of hype at one point in the NBA season, but it all began to fall apart starting with a rash of injuries to the likes of Jeremy Lin and Iman Shumpert. At least their injuries occurred on the court though. Amar’e Stoudemire made headlines when he punched a fire-extinguisher case after Game 2 of the Knicks’ first-round series against the Heat, causing a huge laceration and forcing the Knicks’ big man to miss the next game of an eventual 4-1 series defeat.
No one saw it happen, but I have to imagine it went something like this.
9. Spurs fan gets Matt Bonner haircut, gets suspended
In case you forgot, a Spurs fan got this shaved into the back of his head:
For doing so, he got suspended from school, which seems bad, until the Internet found out about it and the Spurs ended up invited him to a playoff game. Miss school AND see playoff basketball? BEST WEEK EVA! By the way, a month later, the kid did it again.
8. Metta World Peace being Metta World Peace
His playoff run may not have lasted long (one game against Denver and five against OKC), but that doesn’t mean Metta World Peace didn’t have time to make lasting contributions, including doing the local weather in Vancouver, being in Vancouver in the first place because he’s filming a movie there based on a novel by Nancy Freaking Grace, and unveiling his new superhero alter ego Metta Man:
7. Make the Blake Face
You would have thought for sure the cutest thing a young boy could do in the 2012 NBA Playoffs would be to imitate Blake Griffin, like Chris Paul’s son did during a postgame press conference after Game 3 of their first-round series against the Grizzlies win. But was it? Meet me back at the bottom of this blog post and find out!
6. Ricky Rubio is a better NBA fan than you
How much does Rubio love watching the NBA Playoffs, particularly the Western Conference Finals? This much:
Seriously if I have one wish this offseason, it’s for Rubio to get healthy for next season, and I bet I’m not the only person who feels that way.
5. Kevin Garnett does his best Jack Palance impression
KG may be getting old, but he still has some fight left in him, and in case you forgot, here are some pushups to remind you:
The Celtics ultimately fell short against the Heat, but they sure didn’t go down without a fight.
4. Paul Pierce Tebows the Hawks
What is it with Celtics and on-court demonstrations?
Boston won a mostly forgettable first-round series against the Hawks, and I say mostly because the only thing that sticks out in anyone’s mind from it was Pierce sticking it to the Hawks fans late in Game 2 with a little homage to a certain Jets backup QB/punting unit member:
3. Allen Iverson presents game ball to Sixers
Ok this wasn’t exactly amusing per se, but if you didn’t get chills watching AI receive honest to goodness applause from fans in a Philadelphia sports arena, I don’t want to know you.
2. Russell Westbrook’s fashion sense
I said it then and I’ll say it now, when you score the Westbrook did in these playoffs, you can wear whatever you want.
1. Good Effort, Good Job!
If this kid doesn’t get a championship ring from the Heat, I am organizing a protest. Outside of any spectacular play made by anyone this entire postseason, this was the defining moment of the postseason for me. A young kid, completely sincere, exhorting his Heat to keep their heads up after a dreadful loss to the Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. I choose to believe he is what saved their championship run (or at least that’s how it’ll play in my screenplay), as LeBron James and company won six of their next seven games to win the championship and silence an awful, awful lot of critics.
What were your favorite memories from the Playoffs?
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