I think the point is that the dunk being unnecessary doesn't make it classless. Is it classless to help the 2nd year back up pg get double digit assists? Who knows if that's why Dream dunked. But that isn't a bad reason to dunk. Who knows if in Dream's mind the greatest comeback in playoff history wasn't haunting him, and he had vowed to score every chance he got no matter what. That isn't classless either. The way he dunked wasn't a showoff move. He didn't hang on the rim, dance around gloating over his opponents. He didn't taunt the other team. He scored a basket and hugged a teammate. He did it without extra flash, or without insult. I don't think it was swagger either. In my mind sometimes swagger is classless. I didn't vote, because I think Hakeem was just finishing the game, and nothing more. For those who watched that season, that seemed to be Hakeem's style. Take care of business. He did.
How about this? Classless, or swaggerific? <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Iz7ZUzqG93c&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Iz7ZUzqG93c&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I have no problem with the dunk. I wouldn't have a problem with Ainge's reaction either if he had A)Thrown it at the person who dunked it(Hakeem) and B)if he didn't hide behind everyone and yell at them.
If my Rockets stopped competing and left a man that wide open under the basket, I would say they deserve to get dunked on! The Suns should have been professional and lost with with what dignity they had left. There is no mercy rule in professional sports! This ain't 6th grade.
I remember that night watching the game! I had just graduated from High School that year. I argued about it with a friend who said Dream didn't have to do that. If you watch the video though, Orlando was running a press. Did they have to do that? It's like if the 4th quarter in football when you are down by 21 with two minutes left. You blitz, you get bombed on! Man Law!
Yes he was. And he knew he would connect because Ainge played baseball. Not that he needed to based on the distance he was covering.
I'd say that dunk was plenty crunk-tastic That was something kinda odd with Hakeem, his end of game actions. Sometimes he seemed too jovial by nature to internalize the situations. He was just out there to play. Sometimes he'd celebrate with big chuckles and high fives 3 minutes too early and the team would lose leads. Sometimes he'd try to send daggers down with the game already on the line lol.
"Stay humble, stay hungry" combined with "Finish Strong" Hakeem's intention was not to humiliate the opponent. "Stay humble, stay hungry" was one of the Hakeem/Rockets motto during their championship runs after all. Plus it did not fit with Hakeem's personality at the time. At the same time, Hakeem was also a strong advocate of "Finish Strong" and considering the Rockets just blew 20 point leads in 4th quarter in consecutive games at home, I can see why he was making a statement. While it was not classless move by Hakeem, I do think it was unnecessary. I also think that Hakeem did not really care too much about the "end of the game, hold on to the ball" concept. IMO, it wasn't so much as to humiliate an opponent, as it was about him having fun and enjoying the moment. Couple of examples of this: 1) Video posted by OP 2) Video posted by durvasa 3) 93-94 Game 7 of Western Conference Semis against Suns when Rockets were about to close the Suns and Hakeem went strong for a dunk resulted in Barkley flagrant foul. Barkley was ejected. 4) 94-95 Game 2 of Western Conference Finals against the Spurs when Hakeem destroyed the Spurs. Rockets were comfortable up and they passes the ball around in closing seconds with Hakeem under the basket. Once again he dunked the ball very much like in the suns game. IMO, not classless, but certainly unnecessary.
Stern would would come to the defense of the Golden Boy A better example would be if Tracy did this the next time he played the Rockets when his team was up big. The servers might crash under that kinda pressure *knock on wood*
You're argument might work on some level, but you weren't alive back then and didn't watch the game and didn't followed the quotations after. Maybe you did, but had a complete memory fart and got your facts wrong. Ainge surely did not "let the opponents know that he wouldn't stand for it". He instantly claimed it was an accident and maintained that stance throughout the playoffs. He even appealed the fine and never mentioned anything about being frustrated or disrespected. He completely denied any responsibility and kept claiming that he was going for a deep pass down court and that it was a complete accident.
if ainge was classless for retaliating (assuming it was intentional), was bob sura classless for taking down josh howard in the 2005 playoffs?
Seriously? As for Sura taking Howard down, it was classless and completely necessary. Sura was never about class anyways. He has his own website, PeterNorth.com
No, Sura was being a real man by confronting and taking down Josh with his own hands. There's a difference between pushing down a guy with your bare hands with that guy facing you and throwing a basketball 90 mph at a dude's face when he's not expecting it. One was sticking up for your teammate (Sura), the other was a b**** move done from 5 ft away because he knew his team just got embarrassed on their home court.
When you make Danny Ainge your b****, don't be surprised if he acts like one. He didn't throw the ball at Hakeem's face because he didn't want to be broken in half and placed in a suitcase only to serve out a suspension if he ever recovered enough to warm somebody's bench.
