[grantland] NBA Lockout Depression Video Series: Otis Thorpe

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...ba-lockout-nostalgia-video-series-otis-thorpe

NBA Lockout Depression Video Series: Otis Thorpe

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Most basketball fans remember these things about the 1994 NBA Champion Houston Rockets: Hakeem Olajuwon, the guard rotation of Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, and Sam Cassell, John Starks' 2-18 Game 7, and the O.J. Simpson car chase. Somewhere farther down on that list is a man named Otis Thorpe, who for some reason was my favorite Rocket. This video makes me feel reassured of my 12-year-old taste in power forwards. Thorpe's highlight reel may not reflect his's diverse array of skills, but it does capture his love for palming the basketball. It looks like he never wanted to have two hands on the ball for more than a split second, and he made a bet with himself that he could finish every shot one-handed.

Also, if you haven't met the YouTube auteur Misiek, then you haven't lived. There is no NBA player too obscure for his editing software — Andre Barrett, Nikola Pekovic, Anthony Peeler — they're all there. I was bummed when I searched Ira Newble and came up empty, but I know my man Misiek is just waiting for the right moment to drop that gem on us.

Rafe Bartholomew is an editor at Grantland