By now you’ve almost certainly seen the news. If you haven’t, let me hip you. The Washington Wizards suffered one of the worst losses in NBA history on Tuesday night. Fans were left confused. Befuddled. Dumbfounded. Broken. It just made no sense.
The Wizards had a 33-point lead at halftime. The biggest lead of the night was 35 points. The game was almost certainly in the bag. To anyone, let alone anyone with rooting allegiances on either side, this one was over.
And the “anyone” here includes the Clippers coach, Ty Lue, who actually pulled his starters out of the game because things seemed to be in hand. No point in playing your starters when there’s nothing to play for, right? Right?
Well, actually.
If you’re a Wizards fan, you know. You know there’s always a chance. Which is exactly why I tweeted this in the middle of the second quarter.
Until they win by 5 😂 https://t.co/bF15ILiAPY
— Michael Sykes, II (@MikeDSykes) January 26, 2022
I thought the Wizards would blow their 30-plus point lead because, well, they’re the Wizards. They’re not trustworthy. They have never demonstrated themselves to be trustworthy. We’ve seen this before. Michael Ruffin. Kelly Olynyk. The list goes on.
Why would I trust them to hold a 30-point lead? Why? Of course, I wouldn’t. And, of course, they didn’t.
But not even EYE could have anticipated them losing this. On a four-point play. From Luke Kennard. Luke Kennard? Luke. Kennard.
My God.
The Clippers just completed one of the most insane comebacks you will ever see, down 35 (!!!!) points. Luke Kennard gets it done at the death. pic.twitter.com/74BnEwofR4
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 26, 2022
The Clippers were down by 35-points. They won the game. That is the second-largest comeback in NBA history.
Look, man. When you’re a Wizards fan, you expect doom. That’s just what it is. But this? This? No one deserves this. This ain’t right. Don’t nothing about this make any sense.
And that’s why…and it’s hard to say this, so bear with me…that’s why I’m just not sure I can do this anymore. I don’t think I can care about this team anymore. I just don’t know if I can do it.
Look, I love D.C. I love the DMV. I’m born and bred here. This is my home and I love it when my home does well and does nice things because, honestly, there are great people that live here. And they deserve nice things.
So rooting for the Wizards comes naturally with wanting nice things for this city. If the Wizards do well, so does the city. And so here I’ve been — rooting for this team since my early adolescent years.
I was there rooting for Wizards Jordan when he dropped 51-points on the Hornets and made NBA history. But I was also there when that same MJ was icing his knees mid-game during West coast road trips at midnight on the East coast knowing good and well I had to be up for the bus to school in the morning.
And of course, I was there rooting when Gilbert Arenas hit what is still the coolest game-winner ever against the Utah Jazz where he just completely turned away because he knew the shot was good. But I was also a fan for the infamous gun incident.
I was actually in the building covering Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals when John Wall hit the biggest shot in Washington Wizards (but not Bullets) history. But I also remember when Wall only scored a single point against the Cleveland Cavaliers in what was really his last memorable moment as a Wizard.
I say all this to say I’ve lived through the good and bad with this team. I’ve been through thick and thin. But that’s what fandom is, no?
It’s ultimately a decision. You decide, for whatever reason, to pledge your allegiance to this team. You have no idea where it’ll take you. No idea where it’ll go. But you irrationally go down the path anyway because you feel as though you have to. This is what sports are.
But enough is enough for me and the Washington Wizards.
Over the last two calendar years, I’ve seen this franchise cast out Washington’s most beloved son in John Wall just to mortgage the future of this team and cast aside the development of young prospects in the name of selling Russell Westbrook’s triple-double record. We’ve seen them make confounding decisions over and over and over again.
There was hope after the Russell Westbrook trade that this team had a plan. They were building an actual roster with a coach who actually cared about developing a team. It felt like there was something there. They started 10-3. Bradley Beal didn’t look good, but the Wizards were a team! They were doing it.
Now I’m seeing them do…this. Whatever this is. I’m not really sure what to call it. But it’s the single most embarrassing experience I’ve ever had as a Wizards fan. I’ve never felt more ashamed of this team — and that’s saying something.
So, yeah, I don’t know what’s next for me and my fandom. But I’m 110% sure that this ain’t it. Kicking the can down the road here is good for no one.
It’s time to blow it up.
