Nothing But Respect For This Spurs Fan Who Gave His All Defensively Only For Wemby To Drop An Absolute Hammer On His Head

Ron Jenkins. Getty Images.

If there's one thing my simple moron brain always enjoys every summer, it's the clips we get of NBA players absolutely destroying fans 1 on 1 during their camps. I don't know why I enjoy it so much given the fact that it's usually against children, but I think there's something to the idea of getting a read on a player's "killer instinct" when they show absolutely no mercy. No free layups, no jumpers, just putting those campers in absolute hell.

I bring this up because here I was minding my own business just freshing the timeline and whatnot, and I came across this video from Wemby and the Spurs

First off, if I'm a Spurs fan, this is the killer instinct I'm talking about that I would absolutely want to see from my franchise player. For all we kno,w that could have been Game 7 of the NBA Finals given how seriously Wemby was taking it. To know that his competitive fire exists in all situations is yet another reason to be excited for Year 3 Wemby. Clearly, the training with KG is working, because as you can see, every rep Wemby takes is to be taken seriously.

But to me, the more impressive part of that clip is the effort of that fan. That's a guy who didn't give a shit that he was going up against a basketball alien and gave about as good a defensive effort as you could possibly see in that spot. In fact, we have examples of some of the best defensive and shot-blocking guards in the entire NBA not being willing to do something like this once Wemby starts attacking the rim. 

Part of the reason why Derrick White rules is the fact that he always challenges plays at the rim. It could be in the regular season, it could be in the NBA Finals, it doesn't matter. He's arguably the best shot-blocking point guard in the NBA in terms of rim protection, so the fact that he wanted no part of that Wemby transition play because he knew what was coming. He thought about it for a second while trailing the play, and then immediately made a business decision instead. That's largely what makes me respect that Spurs fan so much. Deep down, you could tell he truly believed he had a chance. That might be insane, but at least he gave a full effort. Sure, it turned out how we all expected, and Wemby dropped the hammer on his head, but whatever. That's still an awesome moment that he'll remember forever.

I'll always remember back when I attended the Red Auerbach Camp at Brandeis University as a teenager (while Joe Mazzulla was also a camper nbd) and I had an epic Knockout battle with Walter McCarty, who was the guest speaker one day. Did I win that battle? Of course not. This is Walter McCarty we're talking about here. But getting knocked out by one of my favorite Celtics of all time was something that I still think about and can remember to this day, despite it being like 20+ years ago (fuck, I'm old). 

I would imagine the same thing will be true with this fan. It's almost like getting posterized by Wemby is a badge of honor for all Spurs fans. Whenever we see a poster dunk like this at the NBA level, I always respect the defender because at least they went for it. Everyone gets dunked on at some point, but I'll never make fun of a guy who tried to make a play and instead learned the hard way of what can happen when you challenge someone at the rim. That fan could have easily let up and just let Wemby dunk it, but instead, he tried to make a play, which is all you can really ask for in that spot.