This Exchange Between Paul Millsap And Markieff Morris Is Part Of What Makes The NBA Playoffs So Enjoyable

Millsap: "He's on the line!"
Morris: "Shut up."

Gotta love mics. pic.twitter.com/2IGhj7vbhI

— Thomas Duffy (@TJDhoops) April 16, 2017

The otherworldly talent. The personalities. The rivalries. To borrow from one of the league's most overused postseason slogans, the stage that it sets for the amazing to happen. All those things are arguably more imperative to the entertainment value of professional basketball than the pettiness of it's players. I would probably enjoy the NBA playoffs just as much without childish confrontations that result from tattle-taling and the subsequent rude reactions to it, but I'll be damned if I am not blessed that I don't have to.

If you can't appreciate two bruising athletes almost coming to blows (more accurately, shoves) over a back-and-forth that sounded like a mic'd up, 3rd grade recess then not only do I not want to watch a Wizards/Hawks game with you, but I don't even want to know you. I don't even remember the last time I have seen a lane violation called on the shooter, and a player chose to rat out an opponent in response that rare of an infraction with a tenth of a second left in the first half of Game 1. Granted, Kelly Oubre created quite the war of words between the two players in question, but if that argument about the foot placement on a free throw doesn't speak to how quickly the triviality of NBA players builds into something much bigger and more enjoyable then I don't know what does. If elementary snitching and a well placed "shut up" is the beginning then even this likely lopsided first round matchup should have quite the end in store.