This is Danuel House’s first NBA action since January 14. In the intervening two months, after he ran out of NBA eligibility on his two-way contract, he has spent his time in what I call “The Desolate Contractual Void”.
The Desolate Contractual Void (shortened to “DCV” or just “The Void”) is not a pleasant place to be. It’s an empty part of deep space that’s thousands of light years from any galaxy. There is no matter there – not even the corporeal bodies of those unfortunate to reside in its limitless vacuous depths. Only the abandoned souls of those stuck in interminable contract disputes, such as Danuel House and, formerly, Patrick McCaw, can be located in The Void, but a theoretical visitor to the place would never find them, as they exist only in the spiritual realm.
In addition to the forlorn souls of those whose professional-sporting contracts are unsettled, there is a another, more pervasive, force present in the DCV. Malign entities, some could even call them deities, have made The Void their home, and their presence has a negative effect on all souls who are cursed to share that neglected corner of the universe with them. As winds ravage a delicate tree branch, so do the howling demon-echoes of these entities rip and tear at the souls of those trapped in The Void. Not everybody returns from the void with their soul in one piece. Those who do return intact have their minds forever tormented by fleeting visions. In the darkness, they’ll see a glimpse of an even darker darkness, something blacker than the purest blackness, and a brief moment of recollection will flicker within them, only to die as a snuffed candle. These visions chip away at the sanity of those lucky (or unlucky) enough to cling onto it after their ill-fated journey to the place where there are no stars.
That is the fate that Danuel House returns from. Given all that, him scoring eighteen points is pretty darn respectable. But if he were to ever return to the Desolate Contractual Void, it is doubtful that his damaged soul would survive the experience.