Caron Butler says he can play with no hands
In a postseason full of injuries, there have already been plenty of impressive cases of guys playing through pain and helping their teams in their time of need. Amar'e Stoudemire playing well in Sunday's Game 4 win against the Miami Heat after suffering a hand laceration (via fire extinguisher) is the most notable, but Clippers wing Caron Butler has also decided to play despite having suffered a broken hand in Game 1 of their series vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. In a sport where players need full use of both hands to succeed, it's pretty surprising.
Except, if you ask Butler, he doesn't need any hands to be an effective basketball player. From Dan Woike for the Orange County Register (via SLAM):
"We need Caron out there, a big guard who's been in the league and been around," Nick Young said. "And that's somebody who can give Rudy Gay some problems."
Butler said he has no problems with making Gay his top priority in Game 4 Monday and beyond.
"The role that I'm playing right now, what I'm doing, I can play with no hands," Butler said. "It's not a big deal. I can play."
Anyone who's seen the hit film "Air Bud" knows that prehensile digits and agile hands are not entirely necessary to succeed on the basketball court. On the other hand, NBA defense still requires some level of hand usage, mostly because deflecting passes, grabbing steals, and checking the offense is pretty much impossible without reasonable dexterity. Butler might have been trying to seem tough with these comments, but it comes off a little silly instead.
Still, it's a little interesting to consider what a capable player with no hands would even look like. All we really know for sure is that he'd shoot like Shawn Marion.
