On the field, stars also have moments when they are "confused"

The 2025-2026 NBA regular season has just kicked off, and interesting scenes have emerged. On October 22, at the end of the first overtime of the Rockets' season opener against the Thunder, Rockets' new aid Durant made a gesture to signal a timeout after grabbing a rebound, but at this time the team had no chance to timeout.

Although the referee did not call a technical foul because he did not see Durant's gesture, Durant's unreasonable action also triggered a lot of heated discussions. In fact, in an intense and mentally stressful game like the NBA, it is not uncommon for players to experience "brain short circuit" moments, even experienced superstars are no exception. Sometimes these episodes become fun to relax on the court, and sometimes they become the key points that determine the outcome of the game.

Reporter Feng Zihan reported

Curry:

Cleverness turned out to be a mistake.

According to NBA rules, if a team's player requests a timeout without a timeout, he should be whistled for a technical foul.

When Durant signaled a timeout, teammate Shen Jing standing next to him hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, because at this time the Rockets had exhausted all timeout opportunities. If the referee makes a penalty at that time, the Thunder will get a free throw opportunity, which may directly end the game.

Like Durant, who suddenly "disconnected" was another Rockets player, Ethan. At that time, he also made a pause gesture, but the referee did not see it, so the Rockets "escaped". But in the end, after two overtimes, they still failed to overturn the defending champion Thunder.

Warriors star Curry also encountered the same situation, but that time his actions did not escape the referee's eyes.

In the first round of the 2023 playoffs, the Warriors and Kings faced off. At the last moment of Game 4 of the series, Curry was double-teamed by his opponent. Then he signaled a timeout without a timeout and received a technical foul.

"I knew there had been challenges before, but I didn't realize that when we failed in the challenge, the team didn't take a timeout. When I was double-teamed, I thought calling a timeout was the smartest choice, so I looked at the bench and found that each of them was shaking their heads." After the game, Curry reviewed.

Curry's "smartness turned out to be a mistake" allowed the Kings to chase points continuously and created a winning opportunity for the opponent. Fortunately, former Warriors player Barnes, who was already playing for the Kings at the time, missed the buzzer-beating shot. The Warriors narrowly defeated their opponent 126:125 and evened the total score.

JR Smith:

"The Knife" deserves his name

Speaking of the "short-circuit moments" of NBA players, JR Smith, nicknamed "The Knife", is definitely on the list and has contributed to many "famous scenes."

On June 1, 2018, in the first game of the 2017-2018 NBA Finals, the Cavaliers led by James met the Warriors led by Curry and Clay.

In this tense competition, a hilarious scene occurred. With 4.7 seconds before the end, Clay dragged Cavaliers player George Hill to the ground, and the latter walked to the free throw line. His first free throw was a solid hit, tying the score at 107:107, and then his second free throw bounced out of the basket. JR Smith, who plays for the Cavaliers, grabbed this crucial offensive rebound, but he did not choose to continue the attack. Instead, he strode out of the three-point line, as if he had forgotten that the game was still going on.

In James' almost crazy roar, J.R. Smith came to his senses and hurriedly passed the ball to Hill in the corner. The latter missed a three-pointer and the game was dragged into overtime.

Perhaps such an operation shocked everyone. Members of the coaching staff, including the then Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, did not choose to immediately request a timeout to arrange tactics, and just watched the chance of victory slip away from their hands. Entering overtime, the Cavaliers were completely discouraged and were eventually beaten 17:7 to lose the game.

In that game, James gave everything he had and scored 51 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. After the game, he was so angry that he punched the wall in the locker room and injured his arm. JR Smith's operation also had disastrous consequences: the Cavaliers failed to recover and were swept by the Warriors 4:0.

In fact, this is not the first time that JR Smith has performed such a "mysterious operation".

On November 30, 2016, the Cavaliers played away against the Bucks. At the end of the first half, the Bucks launched an attack and passed the ball straight to Tony Snell under the basket. Oddly, there was no defender around Snell, so he took the empty basket and scored easily. Replays showed that J.R. Smith was supposed to be marking Snell, but he "vacated" and chatted with his old friend Jason Terry on the sidelines and high-fived the opponent, completely unaware that the kickoff had already begun.

Because the game style is too "polarized": he can not only contribute difficult goals, but also suffer from inefficient performance due to lack of concentration, fans also spread the ridicule of "JR is not nervous, an All-Star every day" throughout the Internet.

Dean Jordan:

"Thinking about life" under the basket

and JR Smith have a similar "forgetting to attack" scene, which DeAndre Jordan also experienced when he was playing for the Clippers.

On March 5, 2015, the Clippers faced the Trail Blazers. The game came to the final critical moment. The two sides were tied at 87:87 with 2.8 seconds left. Clippers guard Paul quickly missed the shot after getting the ball. Just when everyone thought it was going to enter overtime, Jordan gave everyone new hope: he grabbed an offensive rebound, and with 0.7 seconds left on the clock, he had every chance to achieve a buzzer-beater.

But what happened next poured cold water on everyone. After he got the rebound, he didn't tip it back immediately. Instead, he held the basketball high with one hand and stood at the basket. Paul yelled at him anxiously and pointed at the ball to ask him to shoot quickly. At this moment, Jordan just woke up from a dream, but it was too late and the game entered overtime.

Those who miss opportunities will be punished. After a hard fight in overtime, the Clippers lost 93:98. Jordan's momentary daze ruined the victory that should have belonged to the home team.

Westbrook:

A big player in walking violations

Westbrook, who is the triple-double king in history, also has many dumbfounding moves.

In a regular season game in January 2017, Westbrook, who was still playing for the Thunder, met the Warriors. About 7 minutes into the third quarter, the Thunder kicked the ball in the backcourt. Oladipo passed the ball to Westbrook, who seemed to be thoughtful, took five steps while holding the ball. According to basketball rules, when there is no pivot foot, neither foot is allowed to lift before the ball is released, otherwise it will be regarded as walking.

At first, the referee did not pay attention to Westbrook's exaggerated action. Curry, who was standing in his own backcourt, reminded him excitedly when he saw it. Then the referee decisively called Westbrook a violation. Such a funny scene made the Warriors bench overjoyed, and the stunned Westbrook muttered "innocently": "I don't know."

In fact, in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, Westbrook was involved in controversy because of his walking. That game was also against the Warriors. With 17.2 seconds before the end, the Thunder led by 3 points. Westbrook dribbled the ball and ran across the center line. Under Clay's pressure, Westbrook failed to stand firm when he made an emergency stop after crossing the center line, and his pivot foot moved. However, the referee did not award a walk penalty, but gave the Thunder a timeout. At that time, Warriors coach Steve Kerr was standing on the sidelines two meters away. Witnessing all this, he looked helpless and squatted on the ground to express his dissatisfaction to the referee.

Even now, Westbrook, who is already a veteran, still makes the same low-level mistakes. On October 23, the Kings’ new season opener was also Westbrook’s first show with the team. In the first quarter of the game, although he actively fought for defensive rebounds, he later gave up the ball due to walking.