And out of the top ten this week is none other than your favorite alien, Tyler Hansbrough. Tyler is most famous for having the worst contorted face possible in every action shot he's ever in. Do a google image on Tyler Hansbrough - it's bad.
And Tyler was one of the players that I was kind of keeping an eye on this year. Not a close eye, but a more lazy eye as it were. He was drafted by the Pacers. And that is translated into he was drafted by Larry Bird. Tyler was immensly popular in college, and it only made sense that he would be drafted higher than his skills really allowed for due to that popularity.
But really, his being drafted by Larry Bird was always kind of looked through with a racial lens. And it's really not fair to Larry Bird or Tyler, but when Larry Bird passed up some of those other players to draft a down-home type white kid, people took notice. It's a sad commentary that it was the first thing people thought about, but it is what it is. I didn't make the news, I'm just reporting it. But truthfully, Larry Bird has earned the right to draft anybody he damn well pleases - regardless of the color.
Now that being said, Hansbrough may still end up being a special player. But this year he's just not performed to the level that the Pacers have needed him to perform. He's not avering double figures in any category. He's barely scoring 9 points and getting 5 rebounds a game. And this kid was drafted 13th overall. That hurts.
Either way, he's still as popular as hell. And I think there are a lot of folks who are actively looking for the next Larry Bird. For every person out there looking for the next MJ, there is another person in middle America looking for the next Larry Bird. So how about it? Is this kid the next Larry Bird? Or is he just some alien who can't control his face when he's performing? Could be both. Time will tell.
1 comments:
The closest thing to the next Larry Bird is already here and his name is Dirk. Tyler is more like the next Raef LaFrentz.
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