The Detroit Pistons haven’t made many highlight reels yet this season, and the ones they did make have been for the wrong reasons.
Such was the case in a recent edition of Shaqtin’ a Fool, Shaquille O’ Neal’s weekly awards for the players who made some of the worst plays of the week.
It’s certainly not a highlight reel you want to be featured on, and the Detroit Pistons managed to make it twice last week, though one of the foolish plays was made by an opponent.
The Detroit Pistons played a feisty game against the Brooklyn Nets last Friday but ultimately came up short. It was a pretty forgettable game except for a couple of plays that made Shaq’s dubious list.
Detroit Pistons: Josh Jackson blows a dunk
The first play started out well for Josh Jackson and the Detroit Pistons but ended in some foolishness. Jackson makes a nice hustle play to get a steal from the flopping James Harden that ends in a fast break.
Jackson is ahead of the crowd and just takes the easy dunk himself, but managed to botch it, sending a long rebound to the Nets, who promptly passed it up the court for a wide-open 3-pointer by Kevin Durant.
Josh Jackson and the Pistons paid the price for missing this fast break dunk 😅 #Shaqtin pic.twitter.com/LC2cti1S9R
— Shaqtin' a Fool (@shaqtin) November 6, 2021
What started as a steal and a dunk turned into three points for the Nets. It’s hard enough to beat one of the best teams in the NBA when you aren’t making plays like this, but a five point turnaround at any stage of the game is tough to overcome.
Detroit Pistons: James Harden gets lazy
But the winner of the Shaqtin’ a Fool award for the week goes to James Harden, who simply gave up on a play and was made to pay for it by a hustling Saddiq Bey. After Bey pokes it away from Harden, the Nets guard thinks he can just let it roll out of bounds. Bey had different ideas.
James Harden ran out of gas on this play 🥵😂 #Shaqtin pic.twitter.com/T00RbpakMw
— Shaqtin' a Fool (@shaqtin) November 6, 2021
This is unacceptable from a guy who is supposed to be one of the best players in the league but pretty symbolic of his lackadaisical attitude towards hustle.
I am not sure if this is a brain meltdown or what, but Harden just jogs along while Bey scoops it up and takes it to the other end for an easy bucket. Thanks, James!
Hopefully the Detroit Pistons will not be making too many more appearances on Shaqtin’ a Fool unless they are the ones making the fool of the other team.