The Side Part: Week 12 – The Comedian
ESPN
What we have on our hands now is something exciting. We got an athlete with an actual personality.
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Perry Jones III has long been something of a mystery. Since coming out of high school as a Parade, McDonald’s, and Jordan Brand All-American, the guy’s been considered a lottery level talent. But when it came time to decide where he wanted to go to school, with the entire collegiate basketball world wanting his services, the dude decided to go to Baylor. Baylor.
When he gets there he’s not entirely overwhelming and, while he’s on very good teams – an Elite Eight appearance! – if you didn’t know of his impressive high school resume you’d really never look at him and think “LOTTO”. He never even looked like the alpha on his own team, the best Bear player chatter usually reserved for Quincy Acy or Pierre Jackson or, for a year, Quincy Miller.
He declared for the draft after his sophomore year. Draft night comes and so do questions about his effort and assertiveness. When the dust settles inside the Prudential Center that night he had slipped on down to the Thunder who took him with the 28th pick.
Last year he’s seesawing back and forth between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, putting up averages of 14.3 points, 7.3 boards, and 1.7 assists in 15 games in the 918. Had him three double-doubles, even. He didn’t get much tick in OKC, though, appearing in just 38 games, putting up averages of 2.3 points and 1.6 boards in a little over seven minutes a game.
Going into this season people fancied that he’d be getting more burn, but when you play the same position as Kevin Durant and Scott Brooks refuses to stop being in love with Derek Fisher, minutes are hard to come by. He’s played very well, for the most part, when given opportunities. He’s showed confidence and athleticism and the ability to be a rangy defender. He’s the type of dude that, with work, could guard up to four positions if a team went small. This season he’s appeared in 28 games putting up averages of 3.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in a little over 11 minutes of play BUT WHO CARES ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THIS DUDE IS HILARIOUS.
If you do not follow Jones on Instagram and you have an Instagram account then I’m not exactly sure what’s wrong with you, but I do know, for sure, that something is wrong with you. The guy is a comedic savant. He is the modern day Chaplin. He’s got bits for days. And the range on this dude. You guys, what kind of humor do you want?
Do you want satiric, eccentric character work? Dude, no problem.
Do you want quiet subtlety? Do you want someone with the ability to share the stage with another performer really going for attention and still come out on top, all without saying a single word? Dude, no problem.
Acting is all in the eyes, you guys. Shouts out to @mooblastthatsme playing the Christian Bale to Jones’ Mark Wahlberg if we’re relating that video to those actors’ performances in The Fighter, WHICH WE ARE.
Do you want someone with the ability to connect with society on a visceral level? DO YOU WANT SOMEONE WHO CAN RELATE TO THE STRUGGLES THAT WE ALL GO THROUGH AS HUMAN BEINGS ON A DAILY BASIS AND THEN TURN THOSE STRUGGLES INTO COMEDY GOLD? Alright, chill, I’ll stop yelling. And dude, no problem.
We’re dealing with a man who has been touched by the hands of the comedy gods. He’s equal parts Bill Murray, Steve Martin, and Will Ferrell. He’s a Kaufman disciple because he’s been living his art for years. I mean, the guy chose to go to the same high school Greg Ostertag went to. He may as well be a Marx brother.
