This thirteen-point outburst (one could even say EXPLOSION) from Wayne Selden is marred by a gigantic asterisk. The video title should really be “Wayne Selden 13 Points* Full Highlights”. Why the asterisk, you ask? Because Wayne Selden scored two of his points by hustling after a missed free-throw with fifteen seconds left and the Grizzlies down by eight.
It’s already a well-established fact that points scored in garbage time are worth less than points scored in regular time. But scoring HUSTLE points in the waning seconds of a game lends those points a new level of worthlessness. Obviously the Clippers players don’t care about corralling that rebound. The soothing glow of the impending victory has made them lethargic. Selden egregiously took advantage of this by getting the rebound himself and then scoring, all while the Clippers are struggling to comprehend that a player could chase his own stats so blatantly.
Think about it this way: if I ate a chicken wing eating contest, then gave up with a minute to go because I wasn’t feeling well, then ate one more wing with ten seconds to go even though I’m down by fifteen wings and the winner already stopped, should that last wing count? Of course not. I lost fair and square and I shouldn’t get to inflate my individual performance by eating meaningless wings. It’s the same thing with Selden here. Shameful.
I keep revised box-scores of every NBA game, and in this one, Selden’s definitely getting eleven points, not thirteen.