This is the perfect opportunity to get on my soapbox. Since it is a larger soapbox, with a wider audience, than most people are allowed, I should take advantage of it more often than I do.
Attention NBA players: if you protect your stats by failing to shoot half-court shots at the buzzer, be it the end of a quarter or the end of the game, you are a wimp and a cuckold. Langston Galloway just showed us that it is possible, if not likely, that such attempts will go in. Sure, his half-court heave didn’t have any affect on the game, but a similar shot at the end of a quarter could make the difference between winning and losing the game. Yet most players will just tentatively hold the ball until they’re sure the buzzer has sounded, then throw it at the basket as if they intended for it to be shot before time elapsed.
With the rise of advanced stats and Synergy, these extremely deep shots won’t even effect anybody’s perception of you. Casual fans will actually respect you more since long buzzer-beaters are pretty much the most exciting thing that can happen in basketball. Why do you think I spend all my time at the park shooting it from the opposite hoop? Because it feels really cool when it goes in after fifty attempts.