The Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings faced off at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night. The game was tied 26-26 at the end of the first quarter. The Wizards had the final possession of the quarter and Zach LaVine fouled as Washington's Bub Carrington tried to go around him.
That's when things got good and weird.
After the referee blew the play dead Carrington, who is listed at 6'4" and 190 pounds, continued towards the basket and went up for a layup. He was met in the lane by Jonas Valanciunas who knocked the ball out of his hands and then simply caught him in mid-air.
Welcome back to D.C., @JValanciunas 😂
— Monumental Sports Network (@MonSportsNet) April 2, 2025
JV catches Bub mid-air on this play! @CMillsPXP 🎙️ @DrewGooden | @WashWizards pic.twitter.com/sPvBdDvN0L
If this sounds funny, that's because it was funny. The announcers laughed. Carrington laughed. The referee looked absolutely delighted as he watched Valanciunas set Carrington down gently out of bounds.
As noted in the video, Carrington and Valanciunas both started the season as teammates in Washington. Valanciunas was traded to Sacramento in February, but it's pretty clear that the two got along pretty well before that. Otherwise he wouldn't have plucked Carrington out of the air like a child jumping off the living room sofa.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jonas Valanciunas Snatches Former Teammate Out of the Air in the Middle of a Game.
