Marshall Plumlee got beat so badly on a Dwight Howard alley-oop, Kent Bazemore was laughing before he threw the pass.
Even more remarkable: Plumlee was on the court at all.
The Knicks rookie began his day assigned to the D-League. But when Joakim Noah fell ill, the Knicks called up Plumlee just before their game against the Hawks.
Ian Begley of ESPN:Plumlee reacted quickly. He lives near a Metro North train station in Westchester, a county that borders New York City to the north, so he boarded an express train to Grand Central. He pulled in to the station at 42nd street and Lexington Avenue and jumped into a cab to head to Madison Square Garden on 33rd and 7th Avenue.
Time was of the essence, so Plumlee said he paid a cab driver a $60 tip to run a red light. The traffic was brutal, so Plumlee eventually got out of the cab and started running to the arena.
“Sprinting through the city,” he said. “I got here, they said, ‘Hey, do you need a warmup?’ I said, ‘No, I’m already warm. I ran here.’”
Plumlee arrived at the arena midway through the first quarter. He suited up and made his NBA debut in the second quarter, defending Howard. He ended up playing 5:36 and grabbing one rebound in the Knicks’ win over Atlanta.
That is nothing short of incredible. In a time professional sports are so regimented, it’s nice to have a little fun chaos.
This is also why teams have become more eager to have their D-League affiliates nearby.
