Sometimes, there's a game or a moment that reminds us why we love watching sports so much.
There was another instance on Wednesday night when a shorthanded Atlanta Hawks squad stunned the Chicago Bulls. Absent a lengthy list of key players that included Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, DeAndre Hunter, Larry Nance Jr, and Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta called on several G-Leaguers and never trailed en route to the 110-94 victory.
The win was simply astonishing for the Hawks, and The Steakhouse discussed it on Thursday morning. Not only for how wild and unexpected it was, but also why it is the perfect story of how players, and people in general, were ready for their moment under the lights.
"What happened last night in Chicago is why we follow sports, it's why we care about sports," Steak said about the win. "They have a couple of guys that are literally trying to survive their dream -- the dream of the kids at Overtime Elite or the kids playing over at Georgia State, they all have the same dream -- to be in the show, be in the NBA."
Wednesday night was a realization of that dream for several of these players, and they made the most of that chance to shine.
A pair of two-way rookie players responded with career nights all around. Daeqwon Plowden delivered 19 points off the bench in his NBA debut while Keaton Wallace secured a career-high 27 points. That pair combined for nine threes in the game and collectively shot 65 percent from the field.
"[Plowden] just went out there and made the first seven shots of his life in the NBA," Steak said about the rookie's performance before equating it to real life. "It's just like life: it's about the opportunity... [that performance] gives hope to every single one of those guys who's taken the court for the Skyhawks."
Sports are like real life in the sense that you never really know when that moment is going to come. But when it does, you have to be ready.
On Wednesday night, the Atlanta Hawks were ready for theirs.
