Best Line in the History of Basketball

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

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 — delivered years ago in a pickup basketball game — has had real staying power for me:

“Ran 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. 😂

NBA swingman Corey Brewer — another guy from a small Tennessee town (the very town in which my father-in-law grew up¹) — 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."