Nearly a decade ago, Tyson Chandler’s touch was a go-to joke amongst Chicago Bulls fans. “Hands of stone” was the go-to phrase on the go-to message board in regards to a player that was not a go-to offensive threat for the team that drafted him. Couldn’t be trusted with a pass, couldn’t be relied upon to nail the free throw if the opposition decided to wrack him with a hack.
But O, holy night how this man developed. Tyson Chandler has hit for over 56 percent of his field goals for eight consecutive years, he led the NBA in shooting percentage last season and seems a shoo-in to do it again in 2012-13 as he works through his time with the New York Knicks with a seventy percent mark from the floor. On top of that, his once-worrying free throw stroke has averaged around 70 percent for the last four campaigns. He can be trusted with the rock, among other things.
This is why, with the Knicks off on Thursday and ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ sweater-deep into the holiday season, Fallon and his staff decided to ask Chandler to participate in a Christmas-themed free throw contest. Random objects, including fruitcakes and stockings full of coal, were chucked at the goal in a contest between the 2012 Defensive Player of the Year and the latest ‘Late Night’ host.
Tyson acquitted himself well. Watch:
This comes on the heels of an expertly-penned update on Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” routine, as shown to you earlier on Friday by Big League Stew (and, if we’re honest, an A+ but not an A+++ like the ‘Kids In the Hall’ update from 20 years ago). Fallon and his crew are uniquely adept at keeping things light and goofy in an comedic era that seems to be skewing darker and darker in respect to its times, and we appreciate the tone.
And, as always, we appreciate the work of Tyson Chandler.
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