The NBA: where statutory rape happens and it's all good
There is no bottom
The NBA All-Star Game used to be kind of a big deal, at least in NBA circles. For the first 40 or so years the league existed, the players took the game seriously and there was professional pride in beating the other guys. In 1964 they even leveraged the popularity of the game by threatening to strike and cancel it, forcing the owners to address labor concerns they’d ignored for years. But with the arrival of free agency and with owners forever pushing for shorter maximum-length contracts, more and more players had more and more opportunities to exert some agency for the first time in their careers.
As the game itself has waned in fucks given, its opening acts evolved to take center stage. The 3-point and the slam dunk contests long ago became the bit people care about. Some years create unforgettable moments.
Some you’ve forgotten before they’re even over. But the vibe in general is always one of the high points of the season. Seeing the best players in the world admiring the best shooters and dunkers doing their thing, the energy you get from a crowd who are 100% behind every athlete – it can honestly bring warmth. The game happens every February, winter’s dark ages, so a little warmth goes a long way.
This year the event is in Salt Lake City, home of the Utah Jazz. As the judges for the slam dunk contest were introduced, one surprising reveal raised eyebrows and Twitter engagement all across the land.
Karl Malone, a name and a face that’s been off the NBA grid for years, received a nice response from the crowd, not a surprise given Malone’s exploits over 18 years as the greatest player in Jazz history, but also definitely a big surprise given Malone exploited and impregnated a 12-year-old girl when he was 19. Why am I sitting at home waiting for dunks and seeing a rapist on my screen? There was a time when the darkest aspect of All-Star Weekend was the creeping influence of advertisers on and in the events. This year millions of people got to be triggered seeing Malone publicly celebrated by the NBA. Fan-tastic.
Why the NBA, a famously image-conscious company, would bring more attention to the story and offend many of their fan base by featuring Malone is a tough nut to crack. Dunk contest judges aren’t real judges! It’s not a merit-based position. 333 men have played for the Utah Jazz all-time, and 332 of them weren’t/aren’t Karl Malone. They could have picked anyone. A current or former Jazz. A celebrity. An NBA great from back in the day. A dunk contest winner from back in the day. Your mom. Anybody but him.
I think I know what I’ll remember from this year’s main events. Julius Randle having his kids there with him, and so many players with their children. It’s awesome to see. There were a handful of pretty sick dunks, more than most years, which was cool. Jonathan Majors was there, and looked happy. I liked that. When I think of Majors, as I often do, I imagine him happy.
The best part of the night was Mac McClung’s performance in the dunk contest. The first few contestants didn’t do anything to get the crowd buzzing. McClung brought the night to life. He ended it on a high note, winning after earning a perfect 50 on his last dunk, a 540 I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
There was a moment after one of McClung’s dunks when he went over to Malone and exchanged fives. Have you ever been really excited watching a movie or a show and all of a sudden they throw an unnecessary rapist into the middle of it? No? Is that just an NBA thing? Imagine Luke Skywalker just saved his friends from Jabba the Hut and for whatever reason Luke is exchanging pleasantries with Bill Cosby. Might ruin the moment for you.
I’m not suggesting Malone be banished to the desert. But what is the line for the NBA? The league faced a simple yes-or-no question: “Do you wanna highlight a known sex offender?” The NBA said yes. Is there a line, then, in their eyes? What message does that send besides “You can commit a crime that every parent alive would kill you to stop happening to their child, as long as you’re good at getting the ball through the hoop”?
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