J.R. Smith: Roc-A-Fella Records Era

One of the best oops of '04-05 season was this no-look Baron Davis lob to a teenage J.R. Smith against the Raptors:

Baron Davis to J.R. Smith

(January 16, 2005)

The finish was exceptional. The Roc-A-Fella/Diamond Dallas Page celebration on the other hand was a little confusing, which is probably the same as saying it was quintessential Smith.

Now the closest Roc-A-Fella release to this game was Cam'ron's "Purple Haze". So as an accompaniment to this play and the subsequent gesture, we're just gonna let you enjoy this slice of mid-2000s brilliance.

(Thank you William Bell, Mavis Staples, Kanye West and Brian "All Day" Miller)

BONUS: Baron continued to throw ridiculous alley-oops even in the twilight of his playing career:

Baron Davis to DeAndre Jordan

(December 27, 2009)

Happy Birthday Eddie Robinson

It is fitting that Day 1 of the Playoffs coincides with E-Rob's birthday in that it was essentially a handful of performances in the '01 Playoffs that would convince the Bulls to pay him handsomely the next season.

Eddie Robinson around Jeff Hornacek
(March 3, 2000)

Most importantly however (and as far as we can tell), it was E-Rob, in his rookie year, who brought the headband to Charlotte. We're talking even before Baron made it his favorite item of apparel to remove in celebration.

Baron Davis sans-headband dunk

(March 3, 2000)

This is probably a stretch, but so influential was E-Rob's accessories wardrobe, that the entire Hornets team would go on to wear headbands, and look ridiculous, through the 2001 Playoffs. P.J. BROWN AND ELDEN CAMPBELL!

Want more? E-ROB WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANNOUNCERS WEARING HEADBANDS!

On the subject of the Hornets, the caliber of dunkers on that '99-00 squad was probably second only to the Raptors. With Eddie Jones as the Elder Statesman of Dunk, the young legs of Baron Davis, Ricky Davis and E-Rob provided a number of highlights throughout that season.

After the '01 Playoffs, the Bulls (Krause) paid E-Rob top dollar to sign as a free agent.  He didn't pan out (aside from some entertaining self-oops) and after a couple of seasons the Bulls opted to buy out the remainder of his contract.
This brought to a close Robinson's NBA career, but he did make a brief appearance in the D-League, eventually taking his talents to Canada.

This post goes out to The Grand Archives.

BONUS: P.J. Brown and guy.

Happy Birthday Baron Davis

And thank you a hundred times Sloan.

One Shot ft. Baron Davis
By Emmanuelle Chriqui

This video was probably the best thing that happened in '08.

NB: The soundtrack comes courtesy of New Edition, but for some reason got changed on the official NOC version of this film.