That Zach LaVine Vine may not be what you think it is

That is a Vine depicting the first words out of Zach LaVine’s mouth after he was chosen by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 13th pick in the NBA Draft. It’s not clear what LaVine’s saying, although it does look a lot like the first word begins with the letter F, ends in an “uck”-like sound, and is not very long. It’s the sort of word you can say when you’re happy, and it’s the sort of word you can say when you’re not. It’s a very useful word in that way.

For instance, you could say it with the word “man” after it, and it could express awe at the remarkable way in which your life has changed, and amazement at the sudden eruption into reality of a lifelong dream. You could also say that short, useful word in an exasperated way, with the word “me” after it, and have it mean something like “Sweet, I guess I’ll get really good at shoveling next winter, when I’m living in Minneapolis and playing for the Timberwolves.”

Twitter, naturally, seemed to think it was the latter. Which is Twitter’s business, of course. The same went for LaVine’s initial response to hearing his name called, which could also look like disappointment to someone inclined to see it that way.

The fact of it is that LaVine, who has spent much of his young life thinking about being a NBA basketball player, was most likely overcome by the sudden arrival of that reality. That is probably a happily gobsmacked “uck” word, a giddily overwhelmed head on a desk. The Timberwolves are the Timberwolves, but Occam’s Razor is Occam’s Razor.

Zach LaVine will learn a lot as a basketball player, and probably give us a number of fun things to watch. He’s already taught us all a valuable lesson in context.