Donovan Mitchell is stuck.
Mitchell's Cleveland Cavaliers led by double figures on February 5, 2024 in the fourth quarter of the home game against the Sacramento Kings. But the six-time All-Stars found themselves in a tough position after picking up with big man Jarrett Allen. Mitchell shuffled with guard Kevin Huerter, picking up his dribble and seeing an open pass alley to Allen. But Domantas Sabonis blocked it with his hands, leaving Mitchell hanging on the pivot foot on the free throw line.
Huerter chases and starts to stalking Mitchell, who tries in vain to multiple fakes and spin twists. The shooting clock fell. As Huerter exaggerates his right hand, Sabonis crowds Allen denies easy passes inside, Mitchell - time and choices run out - unleashes a final trick: He throws the ball off the rebound and jumps onto himself, jumps to himself, and slams a self-assisted dunk.
"There's really no plan," Mitchell told ESPN last month. "You're caught and nowhere to go. You just want to figure it out."
That's what Ja Morant did when the Memphis Grizzlies discovered his airborne during their recent game against the Golden State Warriors. After rising to the edge it wasn't good looking, he improvised the ball to himself from the glass - and then grabbed the ball to the other side of the edge and made a layup almost like Mikan's game.
"Self Alley-oop" was once a rare experience, with most fans and players following a handful of early 2000s legends who desperately juggled it troubles and created memorable highlights. But in the years since, the play has surpassed its glitz-like highlights and has been increasingly used by some of the sports and creative star strategies in the game. In fact, its true origins are also tactical in nature, almost traceable to the NBA itself.
Hall of Fame Tracy McGrady's emphasis on self-service laces at the 2002 All-Star Game is the highlight of the first time for many NBA fans - racing. McGrady used the All-Star free-ball style to throw the ball away from the glass outside the free throw line and stood out from the internal free throw circle to earn an undisputed Grand Slam.
Several McGrady's high-flying contemporaries, including Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant, also famously used the move. But, so are others - lower the ground.
A 1997 rookie, Tim Duncan, who earned the nickname "Big Basic" for his consistent performance, found himself tightly protected by Houston Rockets' big Kevin Willis and threw the ball off the glass, creating a space to grab it, grab it, throwing away a basic two-handed slam, predictable, but rarely dramatic. This is not Duncan show off. He was just caught by a weird place, viewed the rebound as a rescue option, and went. Michael Jordan In the mid-90s, the Bulls used this move as tactical improvisation (for layups rather than dunks).
When Shaquille O'Neal launched it at the 1996 Olympics, both Pall Artimenttime and Airtime were in both Airtime and Hubris. O'Neal's self-taught bragging form is a bragging, a 300-pound sabotage ball that will rival the Joker at a quick break on the open.
But the true origin of the script – the rebounder used as a delivery tool – goes back to the groundbreaking moments of the NBA’s infancy.
With only a few seconds left in Game 7 of the 1957 NBA Finals, St. Louis Hawks laid Bill Russell's Boston Celtics two points behind. Hawks player coach Alex Hannum played a timeout in nearly a month (according to author Terry Pluto in his book Tall Tales) and caused a bold game: Hannum would evacuate from his own basket (the timeout didn't push the ball at the time) and threw the full length onto the back card. Hawks star Bob Pettit positioned himself at the free throw line, then grabbed Carom and put the ball in to equalize the score.
It almost worked.
Hannum actually hit the rebound from 94 feet, which is an impressive achievement in itself. The ball also swept across the edge, Pettit was in a good position to even grab it in the air to put it back in, but the folded rim rolled off the rim.
As quoted in Pluto, Petit said later: “I should shoot.” “Alex’s pass is perfect.”
Video footage exists, although when the Celtics began celebrating their championship, only at the moment Pettit missed, this is the video clip, the first of 11 championship rings in Russell's unforgettable career.
Although not a self-service shoe, this moment clearly sets the table for the tactical purpose of the rebound, rather than shooting. Sixty-five years later, the Ohio Bobcats used the same game to work overtime in 2022 against the Michigan Wolverines. Today, some of the most obvious stars in the game are looking for creative and strategic ways to use rebounds, not just to generate highlights.
Celtic stars and The practicality of the 2024 Final MVP Jaylen Brown’s self-service alley shoes when he made a layup earlier this season is Duncan style. Brown saw the sunlight between his position and the hoop, and decided to completely stop the shot in the air and turn it into a pass. Whether it's pure improvisation or muscle memory - his coach hasn't been surprised since he tried the scene before.
"It's just a good show," said Joe Mazzulla. "It's a drama made by a great player. It's legal."
Several individuals in the NBA hosting department have confirmed the legitimacy of the show, even if the show is not explicitly resolved in the rulebook.
"The rulebook is clear: you can't get your own pass or your basket pass," said Monty McCutchen, senior vice president of referee development and training at NBA. "Once you hit the rebound or rim, it's obvious (anyone can touch it).
The show’s rise as a strategic approach also increased players’ understanding of the rules of pivot foot, followed by an improvement in the “step” movement seen in the league. While this often seems like a travel violation for many casual observers (even trained eyes), NBA rules allow players to hit the floor again before touching the pivot foot, causing players to jump off the pivot foot without even weird foot landing.
In recent years, more and more players have discovered how much space this can cover even after dribbling. I am one of the dramas that outline frequency by myself.
Self-service riding may never be common due to the coordination and timing required to execute it, but some of the league’s best athletes have realized its value goes beyond the wonderful reels. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has taken a quick break from his position and has been on a quick break many times throughout his career. La Clippers guard Ben Simmons used the move early in his career in the NBA and LSU. Morant, Joel Embiid, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray and Tyrese Haliburton all use it in non-time games - almost always a tactic, not a stunt. Even Denver's Nikola Jokic scored a layup in the 2021 playoffs, proving that the play's debt is attributed to the clever and savvy effect as hops.
"It could be a weapon," Mitchell said. "Brown did it in the playoffs."
In fact, it's not just the playoffs - it's also in the finals. Not surprisingly, LeBron James has been one of the most common self-prom clubs in the game throughout his career. From All-Star Games to regular season games to the league's biggest games, James has never been shy to use rebounds to give himself the ball.
This is Bryant, though, who may be a modern pioneer in using rebounding as a self-service mechanism. Known for his incredible footwork, Kobe seemed to be the first to realize the potential of space created by moving gradually from the pivot foot and the occasional role of rebounds in facilitating its use. The Los Angeles Lakers legend has such a whole spike of autopsy throughout his career that it is obvious that he often works in this game.
Kobe clearly sees it as a clever drama. But sometimes, tactical usage can be blurred and just show off.
Utah Jazz After halftime on December 26, 2023, only six points were scored in the San Antonio game, when Collin Sexton took a turnover from the turnover for a public quick break.
"I was like, 'You know what? Why not?' What happened next surprised everyone: the more flickering change from the alley shoes, which was a 360 dunk floor.
Although the show doesn't seem to have a tactical dunk or layup score, Sexton sees it as the arm of his teammates.
"It's like a dynamic change," Sexton said. "Sometimes, it allows the team to fire."
Three minutes after Sexton's dunk, the Jazz extended the lead from six points to 12 and they continued to win the game. Whether the drama itself has any effect as a galvanizing factor is anyone's guess, but it doesn't seem to hurt.
"You'd better do that," Jazz coach Will Hardy said in a ton of dead pan. "But Colin did the dunk. Our team kicked out of it, mainly because they knew I didn't like it.
"There may be a crowd, like, 'The sanctity of the game, wait and see, etc.' I'm not those people, but I suggest you do it because if you don't, now we have to do something that I'm really angry about."
As far as Sexton is concerned, he doesn't care about this risk. He said he hoped to do it again.
“If I were taken out, I would be taken out,” he said with a smile. “(The coach will) let me come back.”
It is difficult to prove that the frequency of self-service cycling boats increases around the NBA, as neither the league nor the private optical tracking system specifically registered. Even in a simple NBA game-by-play log, various auto games seem to be recorded inconsistently. Dramas like Mitchell or Sexton's, from the start, the player obviously passed to himself, just being marked as a helpless dunk. But like Brown's drama, the player appears to play his plan in the air, recorded as missed shots, rebounds and subsequent regressions.
Meanwhile, the optical tracking system appears to capture these dramas as the missed shots are bounced back by the same player. However, even with a dedicated request, such systems currently cannot distinguish between self-service riding and any other drama, where players will rebound their own misses and scores soon.
Mazzulla still says he and his staff have discussed potential parts of the game plan.
"In some cases, the rebounding can be used more," Mazzulla said. "When a little guy tries to pull the big cup out when he tries to get it out, if you throw it off the glass, he has a height advantage and he can get it."
But it has been used, and Self Alley-oop is an amazing moment in any NBA game. Essentially, it might even say it is the perfect embodiment of making basketball so fun.
"It could be something of a soup," Mitchell said. "It's creativity and improvisation."