Behold NBA Highlight Semiotics

Hello, this is Bethlehem Shoals. I'm guessing you've seen this video already; I myself was not aware of its existence until one J.E. Skeets hipped me to it this morning. Here are my notes on the subject:

-Rap songs in which someone "is back" are always better than those that don't. Hence, this eclipses the Kandiman dunk.

-Slowing down an Amare move totally strips it of all its wonder. Not to get all quick/fast on you, but the most remarkable thing about Stoudemire's game is that absent instant between rest and full force. He doesn't just explode; that implies a transition of some sort. One second he's gliding like a guard, and then out of nowhere, immovabele object. At least Marion has the decency to stretch forth with something resembling ordinary motion. Amare is a teleporter, and comic books not so far from kid religion.

-It's easy to estimate the many ways this fetes Amare, but what about that other dude (who, incidentally, is basically Amare Lite)? I was going to hold an essay contest, in which anyone capable of providing me an answer would be given a secret mask. Then, I figured it out myself. As was said a hundred times on that ASW Great Dunks show, the best dunkers are also expert at avoiding the poster shot. Watch Wallace lean just out of the frame and knowingly turn his head away.

-If you ask me, you can even see it in his hint of an expression. Like when ancient warriors of honor view their own slaying as an object.



-Finally, you can't blame him for at least being in there a little. Last I checked, Wallace is a pretty formidable defender, and a showman in his own right. He obviously wanted to try and make a play on the drive, or at least investigate the situation. Multiplicity gambled, out of vanity, by trying to get position when he had no chance. Don't feel sorry for him—he picked his fate, and accepted it like he was looking in the mirror.