5 – Aretha Franklin’s national anthem

Prior to Thursday’s football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, iconic singer Aretha Franklin performed a rendition of the national anthem in front of her hometown crowd. It was actually a lovely performance, but it was a little on the longer side, clocking in at four minutes and 35 seconds. Of course, the internet had a field day with it and even CBS (who was broadcasting the game) put up this graphic at half time:

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Respect, Aretha. Respect.

4 – Zaza Pachulia’s dance

If you’re not a fan of the whole Warriors’ “super villain” mantra or the way they celebrate, you’ll really get irked by Zaza Pachulia’s dance last week in Boston. In the third quarter, the Warriors were on a huge run to put the game away when Pachulia hit this amazing mid-range jumper then literally stopped and did this:

Zaza was clearly excited about actually contributing to the success of the team, but c’mon man. You’re not Steph Curry, you’re not Kevin Durant, you’re not Klay Thompson, you’re not even JaVale McGee. Your job on that team is to rebound the ball, not to pretend to be a good dancer.

3 – Ersan Ilyasova flop of the year?

Ersan Ilyasova is making a name for himself in the flopping industry, and on Wednesday he might have made a case for flop of the year. While going to set a screen on Zach Randolph, Ilyasova meticulously fell back as if he were pushed, and in The Process hit teammate Jerryd Bayless right in the face:

No foul was called.

2 – Tony Allen’s MJ stare down

Late in a game against Charlotte in which the Grizzlies were up by 14, guard Tony Allen made a layup to further seal the deal then proceeded to stare down Michael Jordan. How did Jordan react?

I like Tony Allen, and I’m sure the competitiveness in him would love to take on MJ, especially after Kobe Bryant christened him as the best defender he ever faced. But this is just comical, and the way Jordan reacted shows that he likely feels the same way.

1 – Buddy Hield

Remember back in September when Buddy Hield was asked about Jamal Murray and he responded that he was better than Murray? It might be too early to declare one over the other, but so far it certainly seems that Denver has gotten the better end of the stick. In his last five games, Murray has been on an absolute tear, averaging 15.8 ppg, shooting a sizzling 60.8 percent from deep and making a name for himself off the Denver bench. Hield on the other hand is averaging 3.0 ppg and shooting 18 percent from three in that span.

Hield, of course, was selected sixth overall by the New Orleans Pelicans, just one spot ahead of Murray at seventh. For now though, Buddy has done little to back up not only what he said on media day but his draft position as well.