Taj Gibson's Loose Shoe Temporarily Becomes Important Defensive Weapon

Taj Gibson lost his shoe on a post move early in the first quarter of tonight’s Kings-Timberwolves game. His shoeless layup went down, which is cool enough, but play did not stop, and so Gibson was forced to hoof it down to the defensive end in a sock, holding his shoe in his right hand.

Perhaps motivated by his primary defender’s momentary sartorial disadvantage, Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica drove the paint against Gibson, producing this delightful spectacle:

Karl-Anthony Towns got the block, but credit to Gibson and his big-ass shoe for forcing Bjelica into a tough floater. That’s probably not allowed by a strict reading of the rules, but it strikes me as fair that a player who doesn’t have a shoe on one of his feet should be allowed to have a shoe in his hand.