P.J. Washington is headed to the NBA Finals after the Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the Western Conference Finals. After the 124-103 win in Game 5, Washington went live on Instagram to celebrate and Tyler Herro left a hilarious message for him in the comments.
“How you go from Charlotte to the Finals,” Herro wrote. “You really made it out the mud with this one.”
Washington noticed the comment and hilariously started repeating it.
“How you go from Charlotte to the NBA Finals? Tell ’em again,” Washington said. “How you go from Charlotte to the NBA Finals?”
PJ Washington reacts to Tyler Herro's comment on his IG live 😅
(via pjwashington/IG) https://t.co/XjfvfwJhST
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 31, 2024
With all due respect to the Charlotte Hornets, Washington did get out of the mud when they traded him to the Mavericks. The 25-year-old wasn’t the only one to be “rescued” by them mid-season either, as they acquired Daniel Gafford from the lowly Washington Wizards as well. Earlier during this broadcast, Washington told Gafford that they had gone from the bottom to the top.
“Bottom to the top,” Washington said. “Tell them, Gaff, we went from the bottom to the top, n***a. From the bottom to the top.”
“We went from the bottom to the top.”
– P.J. Washington. 😂😂
(h/t @Coopz___)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 31, 2024
Washington and Gafford’s basketball lives sure changed in the best possible way thanks to the Mavericks.
Washington had been selected with the 12th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Hornets and wins were hard to come by for much of his time with the franchise. In his first four seasons, they had a winning record once, going 43-39 in 2021-22.
The Hornets were eliminated in the Play-In Tournament, though, as was the case the season before, which meant Washington never got to be in the playoffs. It seemed he would be missing out again in 2024, as the team was once again near the bottom of the standings.
The Mavericks, however, ensured that wouldn’t be the case and Washington has rewarded them for saving him, with some fine showings in these playoffs. He has averaged 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in the postseason.
Washington has been great defensively throughout and shone on offense against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference Semifinals. He certainly has played a big part in the Mavericks being where they are now. Herro would have been delighted by that, as he and Washington were teammates at Kentucky.
As for the Hornets, they ended the campaign with a 21-61 record. They have now failed to make the playoffs for eight seasons in a row but at least there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Brandon Miller had a fine rookie season and perhaps one day, he and LaMelo Ball will help change the Hornets’ fortunes.
Gafford, meanwhile, did get to play a couple of playoff games with the Wizards in 2021, but that was it. They won 35 games in each of the next two seasons and were down near the bottom of the standings with the Hornets in 2023-24. The Wizards were even worse off in the end actually, as they finished with a 15-67 record.
While his former team was down at the bottom, Gafford became the starting center for the Mavericks. The 25-year-old has averaged 9.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game during this impressive playoff run.
As much as the Mavericks “saved” these two, I’d say they somewhat saved the team as well. As great as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are, I don’t think the Mavericks would have made the Finals had they not traded for Washington and Gafford.
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