Alex Len Momentarily Forgot He Was Playing Basketball While Trying To Secure A Rebound

It wasn’t until the fourth(!!) period of overtime between the Bulls and Hawks on Friday that one team started to separate itself from the other. I’m talking, of course, about the Hawks, who began to separate themselves as the worst of the two on the court with less than two minutes to go in what eventually became the final period of the game.

Just moments after fouling Chicago forward Lauri Markkanen on a three-point shot attempt, which led to the scoreline you see above, Atlanta big man Alex Len tried to make up for his defensive lapse withe a strong effort on the offensive boards. He was so committed to this goal that he tried to save a mishandled rebound with his foot as if he was trying to get a soccer ball. Len quickly remembered that, uhh, you can’t do that.

In addition to being a source of whimsy in this marathon event of a game, this clip also serves as a friendly reminder that this was a match up between two of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference.

Those of us who are not professional athletes can’t pretend to know what kind of melted substance your brain turns into once a fourth period of overtime is reached in any sport, but I’d like to believe most of us would at least remember some of the basic rules of the sport we were involved in.