What happened to Malik Beasley on Wednesday night has happened to all of us. Well, perhaps not specifically this because, wow, this is spectacular. But what happened to Beasley Wednesday night is analogous, at the very least, to something that has happened to all of us.
Malik Beasley’s hilarious slapstick turnover is so relatable it hurts
We are all Malik Beasley.
This is what happened to Beasley.
Notice I said that this is something that happened to Beasley. He is the one flopping around in the clip, he is the name we’ll remember from this foible. But he is not the reason for the turnover. We are rarely the reason — or at least the sole reason — such embarrassing things happen to us.
In this case, Torrey Craig made an awful pass back to Beasley. Beasley made the mistake of caring during garbage time, and ends up looking like the Toronto Raptors’ mascot rollerblading. The scorekeeper in Chicago did the right thing and gave Craig the turnover, but there’s no avoiding it: this will be known and shared as The Malik Beasley Turnover. When the TNT studio crew watches this on the next edition of Shaqtin’ A Fool, Beasley is who will be named.
Beasley is an NBA player, and so his “oh, oh, OH, MY GOODNESS wowwww” moments are broadcast and snipped and tweeted for the world to see. We’ve all fumbled like this, flailing and flopping as we try to save our doughnut, our phone, our baby from hitting the ground. (Don’t judge.) But we don’t have cameras documenting our foibles. The only witnesses are often ourselves. Heavens help you if a friend or spouse sees it, let alone potentially millions of people across the globe.
But while dealing with a heavily publicized blooper is a particular skill you can only learn in trial by fire, we all know how you get past these little turnovers in life: you just keep moving forward. You laugh at yourself, you shake your head, and as the late, great Aaliyah said, you dust yourself off and try again.
Maybe that next pass will be a little more on target. Maybe you’ll be a little more prepared for the worst. Maybe your reaction skills will improve with practice. Maybe it will happen again. Who knows? All you can do is laugh and keep plugging away.
Thank you for reminding us of this, Malik Beasley.
