In the closing seconds of Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, the Los Angeles Lakers were given an opportunity to seal the deal with one last play. The inbounds play was setup to get Kobe Bryant the basketball, but that’s not what happened as Metta World Peace saw a better option by passing to a wide open Steve Blake in the corner.
Once Blake received the ball, the veteran point guard didn’t hesitate to shoot the potential game-winning three-pointer. Unfortunately, Blake’s shot didn’t go down and as a result the Lakers fell to the Thunder, 77-75.
In the aftermath of missed three-pointer by Blake that would’ve evened up the series at one game apiece, the Lakers guard and his wife have received death threats via Twitter. These threats have been directed to the Twitter account of Blake’s wife, Kristen Blake.
Obviously, Blake wasn’t happy about the threats and responded via Mark Medina of the L.A. Times:
“It’s pretty disappointing that there’s a lot of hateful people out there,” Blake said after the Lakers’ practice Thursday at the team’s facility in El Segundo. “You move on. I just don’t appreciate it when it’s toward my family. You can come at me all you want. But when you say things about my wife and my kids, it makes me upset.”
Even though the last shot for the Lakers in Game 2 was supposed to have been taken by Kobe, Blake taking the potential game-winner was the right move. Blake was open, had a good look and took a shot that could’ve just as easily gone done to even the series.
Unfortunately, despite Blake being one of the main reasons the Lakers were able to advance against the Denver Nuggets in the first round with big shots throughout the series, the veteran point guard isn’t Kobe Bryant and that was enough for some fans to send these death threats via Twitter.
The worst part about this, besides Blake fearing for his family’s safety, is the fact that he might hesitate to take a similar shot from here on out during this series.
On Friday night, the Lakers host the Thunder at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for Game 3. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Blake is affected by all this moving forward.
