In today’s NBA game, the jump ball is all but meaningless. It determines who gets the ball in the first and fourth quarters, and it’s used on the rare jump ball called during live action. Still, it’s a tradition that starts every single game, one we’ve all probably seen a hundred different times. When one goes awry, it stands out.
Enes Kanter can’t believe how awful this poorly thrown jump ball toss is
Kanter won the ball, but it would have been impossible for him not to!
Um ... come on. That’s just awful. The ball goes way to the right, making it easy for Enes Kanter while Nikola Vucevic has no chance. I attempted to draw this rough line pointing out exactly how far to the right the ball ended up.
It looks like Kanter even looks back at the referee and raises his palms upwards, like, “What was that?”
Other than an awful jump ball toss, we don’t know. It probably slipped, or some other infrequent calamity befell the referee. He should put some extra time in at the gym, really show his work ethic, and he’ll have a bounce back performance.
