There was plenty of current basketball about which to talk Thursday evening, including a pair of NBA playoff games featuring the likes of LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and James Harden. So why was a hashtag referring to a 23-year-old movie about a pair of basketball street hustlers trending on Twitter?
Because of what Pat Connaughton did at the NBA combine, which had plenty of folks posting tweets that included “#WhiteMenCanJump.” Connaughton, a 6-5 swingman from Notre Dame — and, yes, a white man — soared for a max vertical jump recorded at 44 inches. Unofficially, that was tied for the second-highest such jump ever recorded at the combine, behind only the 45.5 mark set by Kansas’s Kenny Gregory in 2001.
Connaughton is, in fact, a terrific athlete. He was a good enough pitcher, with a fastball clocked in the mid-90s, at Notre Dame to have been a fourth-round draft pick last year by the Orioles. As a senior he led the Irish in rebounds and three-pointers, and he was second in rebounding and third in scoring.
Advertisement
Connaughton also had a memorably athletic moment in the NCAA tournament, where he helped Notre Dame get to its first regional final since 1979. In a Round of 32 win over Butler, he sent the game into overtime with this block on a would-be game-winning shot attempt:
There’s no doubt that Connaughton has major white-guy credentials. Not only was he a member of the Fighting Irish, but the last name of the Massachusetts native literally derives from one of Ireland’s four provinces, Connacht (and first names, of course, don’t get much more Irish than “Patrick”).
Of course, unlike Woody Harrelson’s character in “White Men Can Jump,” Connaughton has no difficulty throwing down dunks. As a junior, he memorably stuffed one in the grill of Duke’s future No. 2 overall NBA draft pick, Jabari Parker:
Currently, Draft Express has Connaughton ranked No. 98 among NBA draft prospects, and ESPN’s Chad Ford has him at No. 71. But the swingman’s display of explosive leaping ability at the combine may well have earned him a longer look from some NBA teams.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9JonJqqnK56rbHAnWawqF9nfXKBjmlsaGlkZL2iwIycpqemkaq0qcDOp6pmrpWnwaqvwKVkpZ2RpXqiwIytn55lnpeubq%2FOppmippVitaKwjJ%2BmpaOjYsCixcinnmavmJ7BpnnMnqVmm5GjeqvBzKlm