By Ryan Jones
A couple months ago, I posted notes from an utterly forgettable UCLA-Western Illinois game. This was one of those justify-my-existence things: I was in L.A. for about 36 hours and wanted to see the Bruins play, and so I got a credential and took some notes. Among other things, I mentioned that the UCLA media contact had told me how badly Russell Westbrook wanted a Slam cover. I told him that was highly unlikely, but that if Russell did something really dope — like dunk all over OJ Mayo — maybe he’d get a Slamadamonth. When I met Russell after the game, I told him the same thing.
I don’t believe Westbook dunked on OJ — although Josh Shipp sorta did about a week ago — but the creatively coiffed Bruin guard has been victimizing the rest of the Pac-10 with regularity. He did this to Cal back in early January, which I missed at the time. But I didn’t miss the highlights from this past weekend, when UCLA played host to Oregon and Russell Westbrook did…
This.
Two thoughts:
One, both Shipp’s gank on OJ and Westbrook’s bang on the Oregon kid came in games when the Trojans and Ducks — both prominent Nike schools, obviously — wore all-black unis against the three-striped kids from UCLA. Knowing what I know about the sneaker game, I can’t imagine Nike blacking out two of its biggest programs v. the Bruins was an accident. I also think it didn’t work out very well.
Two — Russell, if you’re reading this, you’re still probably not gonna cop a Slam cover, and considering we’re coming off a memorable NBA Dunk Contest, even a Slamadamonth is unlikely. But keep doing what you’re doing and we won’t be able to ignore you. Hopefully this post helps further educate the masses (particularly those of us for whom your games start at 11 pm) and spreads the word of your nastiness. Slam loves you and everything you stand for.
