(Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)

NBA Summer League players forget which direction to go, create confusion with officials

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Dustin Schutte | Last updated 7/17/23

It’s not often that you see all 10 players on a basketball court lose their sense of direction. When it happens, though, it’s pretty hilarious. In an NBA Summer League game between the Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks, everyone forgot what was happening for a few moments.

Dallas’ Marcus Bingham Jr. was at the center of the unfortunate event, receiving a pass from his teammate and then sprinting in the opposite direction for a “breakaway” dunk. For a moment, he clearly forgot what he was doing.

The ONLY positive from this? Since he caught the ball in the front court, he was whistled for a backcourt violation, halting the play. It did not result in two points for the Pacers.

The embarrassing play also happened while Dallas owned a 104-78 advantage late in the fourth quarter, so it didn’t have any impact on the outcome. Still, it was an unusual moment in the Summer League game.

Between this and Jarace Walker dunking off his own free throw this week because no one knew the ball was live it's been a great stretch of weird basketball. https://t.co/5W8qNrehQl pic.twitter.com/VpACVbgtvi
— Jay Rigdon (@jayrigdon5) July 15, 2023

Perhaps the funniest part of the situation is that, quite literally, everyone on the court was confused by what unfolded. Everyone ran the wrong direction, officials were thrown off by the change and even Mavericks head coach Jared Dudley yelled “what are you doing?!”

Fortunately, this was just an NBA Summer League game. Can you imagine if this happened in the regular season?

Isaiah Mobley hits game-winner in NBA Summer League

There has been quite a bit of excitement in the NBA Summer League this year. And it’s not just because players start running the wrong direction on the court. We also saw Cleveland’s Isaiah Mobley bury a game-winning shot in the Summer League semifinals.

In an overtime game between the Cavaliers and Nets, Mobley hit the game-winning bucket to send Cleveland to the final. Below is the big shot from Mobley:

ISAIAH MOBLEY FOR THE WIN

The @cavs advance to tomorrow's #NBA2KSummerLeague final!

9 PM ET on ESPN pic.twitter.com/aoozwfBrNa
— NBA (@NBA) July 16, 2023

That bucket gave Mobley a team-high 23 points for the game. He paired that with seven rebounds, five assists, and two blocks against the Nets while shooting 60% from the field.

The Cavaliers picked Mobley in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft. He’s spent time in the G-League and hopes to carve out a roster spot with the team entering the 2023-24 campaign.

So far, the former USC star has put up some strong performances in Summer League. Will that be enough to earn a spot on an NBA roster?

Mobley and the Cavs take on the Rockets in the Summer League final on Monday. The game tips off at 9 p.m. ET and airs on ESPN.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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