Gary Harris Gets Ankles Demolished By Crossover, Doesn't Quit Basketball

The Lakers played in Denver last night. By the fourth, they were losing by a zillion, which meant that both the Lakers’ Dwight Buycks and the Nuggets’ Gary Harris were matched up against each other.

Buycks (a guard[?] no one at Deadspin can quite place) came around a little screen and got a handoff, and Harris was with him. And then Buycks dribbled twice, crossing over in the process, and by the time he picked the ball up again, Harris’s ankles had imploded, causing the poor man to tilt sideways and fall to the ground. And then he slid, and slid, as everyone in the arena and watching at home kind of froze and looked at him. And then Buycks (pronounced “bikes.” I know, right?) looked up toward the basket, and drained the three-pointer. Boom.

They ended up losing by 18. Somehow, Gary Harris had enough confidence stockpiled from earlier, happier times that instead of removing his jersey, placing it over his face, and getting airlifted to the nearest retirement home, he actually got back up and started running back down the court to play offense. That’s grit. That’s heart. That’s what sports are all about.