Sometimes you write the headline, and sometimes the player writes it for you.
In a 103-94 win replete with highlights and entertainment, perhaps nothing resonated more than Andray Blatche’s reckless abandon for fundamental basketball. Blatche’s end-of-game statistics won’t pop out at you — he finished 4-6 from the field for 12 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes of play. But the stats don’t capture Blatche’s unique zest; the seven-footer twisted and turned his way into open shots and wild layups alike.
There was no moment more representative during the game of Blatche’s complete and utter… well, Blatcheness, than this wild one-man spin, Euro-step, and finger roll in the third quarter.
It’s rare that a layup in the midst of a blowout elicits reaction from multiple players, but Blatche is just that rare a player, a slow seven-footer that plays like a point guard seemingly at random.
“He’s out there having fun,” Deron Williams said, a wide smile on his face. “When he’s going into his Dray Live mode, anything can happen.”
Blatche had his own Dray Live mode after the game when asked about the layup. Leaning to the side and mumbling, just quiet enough that you might miss it, but just loud enough that you could catch it if you listened closely, Blatche stared off into space and muttered, “That’s some, you know, Magic Johnson…”
Later, Blatche was asked about his favorite part of the play. “The whole thing,” he responded.
“It’s like a chicken dinner. You got the chicken, you got the roll and the corn…”
Blatche then trailed off with a laugh. Perhaps he felt he’d made his point. Maybe he recognized that he may be the only player with the incredible combination of unique talent, brash arrogance, and self-delusion to compare himself to Hall of Fame point guard & five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson and a chicken dinner in the same two minutes.
But if he didn’t do any of that, he just wouldn’t be Andray Blatche.
