Justin Holiday narrowly avoided becoming a meme on Monday, thanks to his complete lack of facial expression. The situation had the makings of a useful, versatile piece of humor, but Holiday didn’t really cooperate with his reaction.
The play in question was a five-second inbound violation against the Chicago Bulls in the closing stages of their victory against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors were unable to complete the comeback, so it’s all for naught (and fun) at this point, anyway, but the global ambassador appeared to have a major hand in a crucial crunch-time turnover.
The Raptors had played poorly for most of the night but were making a late push, cutting a 13-point fourth-quarter lead down to three with 25 seconds to play. The Bulls called a timeout, made the usual offense-defense substitution, and handed the ball to Holiday to inbound. Perhaps shook from their turnover eight seconds prior, the Bulls came out of their timeout looking scattered. Holiday struggled to find an open lane, and the referee eventually called a five-second inbound violation, turning the ball back over to the Raptors. The entire time, Drake was right there in Holiday’s ear.
Asked Wednesday about the play, Holiday downplayed it. Here he is, courtesy the Chicago Tribune:
I wasn’t paying attention to him. I was listening to the ref. The ref was talking to me at the time. And I had to focus on getting the ball in the play. I wasn’t worried about what Drake was talking about.
It is what it is. It’s not that big of a deal. He’s a big fan. He’s a big fan of Toronto. He does a lot for them as far as supporting them. So, he’s a good fan. At the same time, though, how much credit he’s given for that play, I mean it was cute for a second but obviously he had nothing to do with the play and what happened with it.
To which we offer:
In all seriousness, Holiday’s probably telling the truth, as players have to be used to tuning even the most high-profile of fans out. He was also willing to have a laugh at the situation, calling this photoshop “hilarious” (I couldn’t find the original tweeter so here’s the ESPN):
Justin Holiday gets the Meek Mill treatment after taking an L from Drake last night on this play. https://t.co/47JundZdMT
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 15, 2016
It’s good that he can have a sense of humor about it. Winning the game probably helped in that regard. In any case, here’s to more Drake defense in clutch situations come playoff time.
