The Washington Wizards forced a Game 7 in their second-round NBA Playoffs series with the Boston Celtics Friday night, earning a 92-91 victory, thanks to John Wall’s three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left.
As you can imagine, Wizards fans and players were tremendously excited after the thrilling victory. Obviously, most everyone in the Verizon Center was caught up in the last-second nature of the win. But pushing the best-of-seven series to a decisive game gives Washington a chance to win the series and eliminate the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. That may have not been Washington’s last home playoff game of the season.
One Wizards player provided a hilarious display of his jubilation when he saw ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith near the tunnel as he left the court. Forward Markieff Morris, who scored 16 points in Washington’s win, gave Stephen A. an enthusiastic butt-slap on his way to the locker room. And there is video!
When you force a Game 7, you slap @stephenasmith on the ass. pic.twitter.com/kbDYlUhF3k
— Amy Rubin (@arubin820) May 13, 2017
Morris gave Stephen A. quite a smack there, surely channeling his enthusiasm for the big playoff win into his right hand. Perhaps Morris also knew that there would be no takedown of the Wizards or their star players on SportsCenter following the game, nothing like the attack Stephen A. directed at Houston Rockets’ guard James Harden after his 10-point, 2-for-11 shooting performance with his team’s season on the line.
What made the moment even funnier was the smirk Stephen A. shot to Morris as he walked away.
Now, some might say Stephen A. enjoyed the smack. If you want to go down that path, it’s right there for you. Others might say that the vocal ESPN pundit admired Morris’ moxie, his audaciousness, in that moment and respected his need to punctuate the continuation of the Wizards’ season. Flex your muscles, big man.
Maybe Morris even earned himself an Oberto Beef Jerky spot with that butt-slap.
About Ian Casselberry
Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.