Are there any unacceptable scenarios for preening after hitting a big playoff shot?
Just one. I call it the Andre Iguodala Corollary: namely, if you just sucked for the last two minutes of Game 1, bricked two free throws and missed another shot, you are not allowed to prance around like a superstar if you happen to make an absolutely atrocious stutter-step fallaway that you never should have taken in a million years. I will allow you to chest-bump a teammate or two, but that’s it. That reminds me, have you ever noticed the correlation between a player’s reaction after he makes a game-winner and his status as a player at that specific time? Jordan was fascinating in this respect: In the ’80s, he jumped around every time he made one. By his last two Chicago seasons, he just pumped his fist and did the whole “Come on, like there was any doubt?” routine. It’s the last stage you can reach as an NBA star. So let’s say there are 10 stages in all. I think they would look like this: Stage 1: “I can’t believe that went in, I’m going to jump around like a huge dork, and I am def
