You could say that Larry Nance Jr. dunked on David West. That’s one interpretation of what happened here. See for yourself. In a strictly technical, minimalist sense, this is what happened: Larry Nance Jr. dunked on David West.
Larry Nance Jr. must apologize to David West for this disrespectful dunk
Disrespect like this cannot be tolerated in a civil society.
Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
But this was so much more. More than what was necessary. More than what is acceptable.
Context matters on dunks. Nance is a young gun, a son-of-an-NBA-player who is solidly in the rotation of a low-end team. He definitely has a place in the league for the next five to 10 years, depending on how the contours of his game round out.
West is an elder statesman, a former college Player of the Year and two-time All-Star. Before becoming a vagabond, he served as half of Chris Paul’s deadly pick-and-pop battery for strong New Orleans teams. Following that, he became the cool uncle of the peak modern Pacers. Now he’s searching out the NBA for a loose championship ring, having moved from the Spurs to the Warriors, both on discounts.
Nance dunked on West, yes. But also, he punked West. Look at where he puts his hand. Look how he pets West’s head. The great Steve Noah said Nance caressed it, and that’s a perfect description. He did. Larry Nance Jr. caressed David West’s head as he dunked viciously on him.
This is unacceptable.
Dunk society has rules, Larry Nance Jr. And one of those rules is that if you must dunk on an elder statesman, you do it respectfully. You do not make a fool of veterans without provocation, and West has, to our knowledge, done nothing to deserve Nance’s ire. He’s simply guilty of rotating a touch late and being ever-so-slightly in Nance’s flight path.
West didn’t try to take a charge. He didn’t deliver a hard foul. He didn’t trash talk before the game. It’s highly unlikely West and Nance have personal beef. I’m pretty certain West has never even heard of Larry Nance Jr. but remembers his dad’s career vividly.
If Nance had simply gone up for a spectacular springing dunk and kept his hands to himself, he would have had the Dunk of the Season To Date. That would have been enough. By laying hands on West, he both guaranteed greater Vine notoriety and crossed the line. He displayed a complete disregard for basketball norms and showed himself to be unfit to possess his own athletic gifts.
Larry Nance Jr. must apologize to David West. It’s the right thing to do.
