WRAPAROUND (2 of 24)
In basketball, there is a concept called the “childhood hero.” It is a term coined for when a fan in their adolescence attributes a player more talent and acclaim than they really have. For me, that player was Robert Horry, primarily when he was a backup power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers. My brothers and I did not even know his correct name, Robert Horry was just “Orry'' in our eyes(1). I was convinced he was the third member of a trio with Kobe and Shaq. I was born in ‘96, Horry played for the Lakers from 1997 through 2003 and he averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds with a steal and a block. He was a stretch four, ahead of his time and a consummate winner but he was no star. Once he departed to the Spurs, that energy waned and I didn’t overrate or overstate the talent of a player to such an egregious degree ever again (maybe Flip Murray(2) during his tenure with the Hawks but to a smaller degree). I didn’t think I was alone though, not for thinking that Robert Horry was a star, but for such a small moment or player to move the needle in such a dramatic way. The idea of a “childhood hero” prompted me to think of something of my own, the “the unexpected oh shit moment from a player you aren’t exactly enthralled with and don’t dislike either that left a remarkable imprint on the way you see basketball” (I couldn’t think of a catchier name)(3). For me, this moment came from none other than former Oak Hill phenom and Milwaukee Bucks rookie standout, Brandon Jennings.
Brandon Jennings was the first person I’ve ever seen do the wraparound move and it was possible he invented the move in my young mind, but I was wrong. Looking back, Kobe did the move February 10th 2009 against the OKC Thunder, a few months before Jennings was even drafted(4). That wasn't even Kobe’s first time, 2003 against the Nuggets infamously preceding that incident(5). Manu Ginobili had done the move in transition plenty of times and it was an integral part of his arsenal. Further investigation and more years spent on this Earth revealed the name “Sarnunas Marciulionis” to me. Sarunas Marciulionis is a 6’5” guard from Lithuania and one of the first European players to really make a splash in the NBA. Marciulionis is widely known for bringing the wraparound move to America in the 90s during his time spent with the Golden State Warriors(6). Regardless, all of this basketball history had converged upon Brandon Jennings at this moment. And Jennings was a savant and a wizard in my teenage eyes the moment I saw it. Brandon Jennings already had a certain cool factor in my eyes. He scored 55 points in three quarters against the Warriors(7). He skipped attending college to go play pro basketball in Spain. He changed up his hairdo every few months to something unlike anyone else in the NBA. He was on the cover of SLAM magazine(8). He danced on opposing point guards with his lightning quick handle and hit a bunch of “what the hell man” type three-pointers. And he had a way of taking basketball back to its roots, in ways many other players could only pray to relate to.
To begin the play in question, Jennings strips the ball from Jason Maxiell (infidelity GOD) (9) and treks down the court, Rodney Stuckey (10) backpedals to stop the ball. Stuckey runs towards his basket with his head reared back to keep an eye on Jennings. As Jennings crosses the halfcourt threshold, Stuckey manages to get in front of him and slow down his acceleration but Jennings continues to ram the ball down his throat. Still, the slight decrease in speed allows Maxiell to get back into the play. Jennings hesitates at the top of the key, the herky jerky split second action freezes Stuckey but Maxiell only closes more ground. Brandon Jennings drives directly at Stuckey who is now positioned in the paint, contorts his body so that his back was to the basket and wraps the ball around his torso before softly kissing the ball off the backboard and into the goal, Maxiell’s outstretched arms missing the block by inches. It was peak NBA tightrope action: skillful athleticism, torque, strength, touch, finesse, and culture all rolled into 4 seconds of play.
It was a simple run of the mill fastbreak before Jennings imbued it with flair and magic. 4 seconds. That’s all it took for the move to entrance me. I spent months thinking about the move, imagining myself pulling it out in a high school basketball game, the crowd screaming and chanting because of a move I(!!!) did. I went into the summer, determined to add the move to my arsenal, to do the move as instinctual and seamless as Kobe, Marciulionis, Manu, and Brandon Jennings would. I practiced it for a while. At first the ball moved slowly around my body, it got stuck on my shirt, my short gawky legs and long gangly arms proving to be a mismatch to use such a sophisticated weapon. I keep at it, because even if I couldn’t do the move in a regulated basketball game, I had to do the move in a game at some point. 21, HORSE, 1-on-1, full court pickup, any game! And through repetition, I got there. I smoothly did the move, over and over again. Maybe not as well as Jennings or Kobe(11) but it was an efficient way to get a bucket when I was in my Dad’s Kansas City driveway, putting up shots by myself.
I remember the first time I did the move in a pickup game. The court we played on was nowhere close to the regulatory 94-feet, each goal being on opposite sides of a pavement court in an upscale apartment complex down the street from my dad’s house. My brothers would walk there often in the hot July sun (12), it was the best place nearby to get a decent run. My older brother grabbed a rebound and kicked it out to me on the semi-break. I grabbed the ball, took two (unnecessary) dribbles before dipping my shoulder and driving my right foot into the ground. I curled the ball from my left hand to my right and laid the ball off the glass and into the basketball, my defender rolling off me. It was one fluid motion. Play did not stop, there was no big ovation for my growth. The other team just inbounded the ball and I got back on defense. I don’t remember if we won if we lost. I don’t remember much of anything else from that day but I was so fucking happy I got to do a wraparound like Brandon Jennings(13). I did the move a bunch of times after that and it eventually rescinded in importance. I no longer do it or think about it. I’m still waiting for it to just happen when I play, the way it seemed to for Brandon.
Basketball is important because it inspires and imbues. It keeps us moving and growing.
Footnotes:
Almost everything I knew about Robert Horry was passed down to me from my older brother, like an old urban legend. It’s almost like minor details as in his real name were lost in translation.
Ronald “Flip” Murray was like Leandro Barbosa meets Monta Ellis at one point for me. I don’t know what I was seeing but I remember being devastated when he left Atlanta. He averaged 12-2-2 in his single season with the Hawks and we got SWEPT by Cleveland led by LeBron James. Solid player, but not the guy. I also thought Carlos Delfino and Landry Fields were insanely good for some reason.
In other words, a guy who wasn't one of your favorite or least favorite players but still had a large impact on your basketball life.
Kobe has literally all the moves so it's understandable how this receded to the back of my mind before Jennings did the move. Kobe worms between Earl Watson, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook in an almost instinctual way to kiss the reverse layup off the backboard. The other team barely reacted.
The wraparound leading to the flush on Vincent Yarbrough’s head off a full court baseball pass from Robert Horry. It is one of the most famous dunks of Kobe’s career. What a time to be alive.
His best season? Marciulionis averaged 19-3-3 on 60.7% TS in 29 minutes per game, mainly off the bench.
2nd-4th quarters.
Issue 135. He bursts through a paper backdrop in a way that makes it seem as though he’s coming out of the magazine with the word “BREAKOUT” screaming at you.
Jason Maxiell admitted to cheating on his wife Brandi with over 50 different women on the OWN show, Iyanla: Fix My Life and having had sex with 341 total. He has 266 career assists. He had sex 1.28 times for every time he set a teammate up for a basket. Insane.
Stuckey was another one of those guys who I thought would blow up when I was younger but never did. The Pistons were a powerhouse for much of childhood and I thought he and Ben Gordon were there to continue that legacy a bit. He was a very solid player though. I stand by that.
I have extremely high expectations of myself basketball wise although I haven’t even sniffed an NBA level of talent at any point of my life.
We had a certain cool factor to those kids, being black and living in the more urban Atlanta.
Brandon Jennings once predicted that the 8th seeded Milwaukee Bucks led by he and Monta Ellis would upset the Big 3 led Miami Heat in six games. The Miami Heat went 66-16 and won 27 straight games. He was so cool I believed him for about two minutes. Then I came back down to reality and laughed a bit just like everyone else. He got traded to the Pistons, had a few entertaining years there before tearing his achilles tendon in January 2015. He had a few more moments in the NBA, none as memorable as his first act. He went overseas and had some weird beef with Paul Pierce. Pierce would walk up to random people in China and record himself asking about Jennings’ whereabouts (a supposed jab at Jennings being washed out of the NBA). Pure hooper.
