Fred VanVleet tried to pull off the slickest move on an opponent during Thursday night’s game between his Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jaren Jackson Jr. was at the free throw line for the Grizzlies with his team down 119-118 with 8.6 seconds left at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn. Knowing the game was on the line, VanVleet went deep into his bag of tricks to try throwing off Jackson.
VanVleet was caught trying to wipe sweat on the hand of his opponent. The idea was that some slickness could mess with Jackson’s ability to make a free throw.
VanVleet wiped sweat on Jaren's hand before clutch FTs 😅
JJJ still made both 😭
(via @Devin_Walker2) pic.twitter.com/fk3mgUwtYX
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 31, 2025
Despite his best efforts to disrupt Jackson, the Grizzlies star made both of his free throws to give Memphis a 120-119 lead, which turned out to be the final score. Perhaps in a sense of karma, VanVleet missed a shot attempt to give Houston the lead with 2.2 seconds left.
VanVleet finished with 13 points on 4/12 shooting, while Jackson had 21 points on 7/15 shooting. We’ll give VanVleet some credit for creativity — and grossness.
