πŸ€ 5x5 | Royce Webb

πŸ€ 5x5 | Royce Webb

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πŸ€ 5x5 | Royce Webb
πŸ€ 5x5 | Royce Webb
Best Line in the History of Basketball
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Best Line in the History of Basketball

If you love the language of sports, this is for you

Royce Webb's avatar
Royce Webb
Dec 07, 2023
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πŸ€ 5x5 | Royce Webb
πŸ€ 5x5 | Royce Webb
Best Line in the History of Basketball
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Blink twice if you remember the Corey Brewer era in L.A. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)


The funniest guy I know is a former college basketball player named Chris Barber who is, like me, from a small town in Tennessee.

Quick quips bonded our friendship, and one of his lines β€” delivered years ago in a pickup basketball game β€” has had real staying power for me:

β€œRan out of talent.”

During NBA games, the line comes to mind anytime I see a player try a move he can’t finish. The bigger the gap between intention and execution, the funnier it is:

Whoops! He ran out of talent. πŸ˜‚

NBA swingman Corey Brewer β€” another guy from a small Tennessee town (the very town in which my father-in-law grew up1) β€” brought that line to the wider basketball world via an ESPN feature on legendary coach Mike D’Antoni, written by Tim Keown:

[T]here's nothing D'Antoni loves more than a good story, which is why ex-Rocket Corey Brewer will forever have a place in D'Antoni lore. Early this season, Brewer, who was traded to the Lakers in late February, took a pass on the baseline, drove, spun, shook two defenders with a 360 and missed a point-blank shot at the rim. "Coach, I did my thing," he told D'Antoni, "but then I got to the rim and just ran out of talent."

"Ran out of talent," D'Antoni repeats. "Best line in the history of basketball."

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