Video: Wayne Selden plays role of Grinch on Rakeem Christmas in a must-see dunk
I guess we have to call Wayne Selden the “Grinch” now, because he just tried to steal Christmas.
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Rakeem Christmas of the NBA Developmental League’s Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mad Ants, that is.
Every Mad Ant down in Fort Wayne liked Christmas a lot …
But the Grinch, who played just west of Fort Wayne (on the Iowa Energy), did NOT!
The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his pants were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his height was five inches too small.
Whatever the reason, his height or his pants,
He jumped over Christmas, hating the Mad Ants,
Staring down from his leap with a sour, Grinchy frown,
At the warm hearted fans below in their town.
For he knew every Mad Ant down in Fort Wayne below,
Was busy now, watching a basketball show.
“And they’re hoping he blocks me!” he snarled with a sneer,
“It’s Rakeem Christmas! He’s practically here!”
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
“I MUST find some way to stop Christmas from coming!”
Perhaps his only prayer if if he no one is there, so Selden stopped Christmas, it turns out, by acting as though he wasn’t about, slamming a dunk so vicious and pure in D-League lore it is sure to endure.
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OK, it’s taking a little longer than expected to stop writing in Dr. Seuss.
Foregoing his final year of college eligibility, Selden went undrafted out of Kansas in June. The former McDonald’s All-American entered training camp with the Memphis Grizzlies before being waived and joining the D-League’s Iowa Energy. You may remember him from such dunks as this against Baylor:
Meanwhile, Christmas had his rights twice traded — from Minnesota to Cleveland and Indiana — since being selected 36th in the 2015 NBA draft. The Syracuse product has spent the past two seasons bouncing back and forth between the Mad Ants and Pacers, appearing in just three career NBA games.
The two aspiring NBA players met with just under three minutes remaining in a D-League showdown on Sunday, and Selden greeted Christmas with the game-tying dunk. Christmas got the last laugh, setting up teammate Julyan Stone’s game-winning shot in the final seconds. Selden’s eighth and final turnover sealed Iowa’s fate, gift-wrapping a 95-94 win for Fort Wayne. Selden finished with 21 points on 12 shots and six rebounds, while Christmas contributed 18 points on 11 shots and seven rebounds.
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I guess you could say the Christmas spirit survived, despite the Grinch’s attempt to steal it.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
