The Many Faces of Jalen Rose

NBA Cup Drama

The 2024/25 edition of the NBA Cup kicked off yesterday with an all-time moment - down two, the Pistons tie the game on a Cade Cunningham alley oop to Jalen Duren with 1.8 seconds left. With 1.1 now on the clock, Erik Spoelstra calls for a timeout, but the Heat don’t have any. The Pistons receive a technical foul and win the game.

Jalen Rose’s reaction to the saga produced an all-time clip, to the extent that I figured it deserved its own detailed post. It’s clearly a flashback to the 1993 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game, when Rose’s teammate & fellow member of the ‘Fab Five’ tried to call a timeout he didn’t have, giving UNC a technical and the ball and costing Michigan a chance to win the game. Both moments remind me of one of my favorite paintings, The Last Day of Pompeii, by Karl Bryullov, 1830-33. Destruction, chaos; the wrath of the Gods bottled in a moment with a sharp and violent conclusion.

Bryullov weaves shock, pain, and fear through his canvas, not just in the movement of bodies, but on the faces of his many subjects. It’s what makes the painting so memorable, and why I figured it had to be used to represent the stages of emotion we saw play out for Rose. So without further ado, here’s a three-part installment (two on the house and a third - that’s arguably the best of the bunch - for paid subscribers after the fold):