Martell Webster Mistake Costs Timberwolves Chance To Tie Nuggets In Final Seconds (VIDEO)

Hall of Fame Yankees legend Yogi Berra famously said that "90 percent of the game is half mental." Well, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Martell Webster got that other 10 percent right, making an incredibly agile and instinctive physical play in the waning moments of his team's game against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. The mental part, though, was an entirely different story.

The Nuggets were set to inbound the ball with a three-point lead and just 4.9 seconds left in overtime, but guard Julyan Stone made a bad pass that was stolen by Webster. With just a few ticks left, Webster attacked the basket and drove through the lane for a one-handed dunk, instead of you know, trying to force double overtime with a 3-pointer.

Moments after scoring the meaningless two-point field goal, Webster appeared to realize the mistake he had made, throwing his hands up after the T-Wolves immediately fouled with .5 seconds left.

"What are you doing?" the confused announcer asked.

Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune reported that Webster was actually aware of the situation, but he was hoping to draw a foul for an old-fashioned three-point play.

"If I had to do it over again, yeah, I'd probably pull up for a jump shot," Webster said. "But what was going through my mind was go to the rim and possibly get fouled. The contingency to that shot was get a bucket, get a foul, they miss free throws and we get another shot. It didn't work out that way."

Before Webster had a chance to explain himself, this miscalculation was quickly dubbed one of the worst plays of the season on Twitter.

@sportsguy33
Bill Simmons

Wow, Martell Webster just made the dumbest play of the season. It was awesome. I don't know why coaches even have timeouts.

February 21, 2012 4:50 am via UberSocial for BlackBerry Reply Retweet Favorite

@EricGoodman
Eric Goodman

Vote now! Dumbest move by a professional athlete--Martell Webster not shooting a 3 or Marion Barber running out of bounds.

February 21, 2012 4:51 am via web Reply Retweet Favorite

@Deadspin
Deadspin

VIDEO: There's boneheaded plays, and then there's what Martell Webster just did to ensure a Timberwolves loss http://t.co/pxga0duE

February 21, 2012 5:07 am via TweetDeck Reply Retweet Favorite

Comments

[hanerau]

03:25 AM on 02/23/2012

It could've been worse. He could've tried calling a timeout when his team was out of timeouts.

[O K Ali]

07:46 PM on 02/21/2012

He could as easily gotten fouled, just like he said. You see him hesitate a half-step before going to the basket, giving the defender time to make a play on him. It's one game, the season ain't far from over.

[rigmoten]

03:22 PM on 02/21/2012

Poor guy, the first time most of us have heard of him is because of this play. Hopefully he has a successful career after this.

[MChile124]

06:34 PM on 02/21/2012

He and I share a birthday! Haha so that's why I knew his name. Somehow I feel bad for him because despite not being a great player I've felt that connection with him. How could he do this to us?!

[rigmoten]

01:09 AM on 02/22/2012

I knew YOU would be behind it all.

[pleasantlyny]

02:05 PM on 02/21/2012

All the comments from people who i bet never played a competitive game aof bball aboe the HS level.

[calltoaction]

04:01 PM on 02/21/2012

exactly. most i bet cant even run baseline to baseline once.

[Meerkatx]

12:01 AM on 02/22/2012

And yet, us people who have not played competitive basketball understand 2 points doesn't help when you're down by 3 with only seconds left.

[fds]

01:53 PM on 02/21/2012

Not sure why everyone is hating on Webster. He might have missed the three. The Nuggets have been so careless recently that the drive Webster made could have been punctuated by a foul--giving him a free throw to tie it. If that had happened, nobody would be calling him an idiot.

[tqcobb]

02:12 PM on 02/21/2012

I agree...Simmons and others on Twitter need to give the kid a break...last time I checked human beings are playing sports not computers

[plzchuteme]

01:48 PM on 02/21/2012

Apparently Mr. Webster subscribes to the prevailing idea that a slam dunk is worth more points that a layup, jump shot, hook, or even a tip in, and the more outrageous the dunk, the more points you get.

[shylab75]

01:28 PM on 02/21/2012

Banking on one player to come in and revive a franchise is dangerous because of the message it sends to your franchise (and to its fans). It essentially admits that the team (as is) is incapable of winning, however admitting this truth (and this is a fact with this NJ squad, leave no doubt about that) could pave the path to change. "Read More - http://blog.fansaloon.com/2012/02/lin-ning-and-losing-the-nj-nets-dilemma/

[mujer-lg]

12:53 PM on 02/21/2012

Maybe it's the altitude. :)

[jymfrancais]

11:32 AM on 02/21/2012

Well, the whole Country got to see his hair now.

[KeepNIt2Real]

11:09 AM on 02/21/2012

Meh, he just forgot to look up at the scoreboard and clock...lol

[cameron d]

10:34 AM on 02/21/2012

Following both Bill Simmons and the Bill Walton Trip on Twitter last night and this story just filled my feed. Just one of the dumbest plays I've ever seen. Steal the ball and call time out.

[jdmn17]

09:55 AM on 02/21/2012

Look at this from the bright side. The twolves might win as many games this year as they did the last two or three combined. Last year they would have lost this game by twenty in regulation. Now they are becoming competitive but you have to remind yourself they are still a work in progress and don't have a shooting guard and won't in the foreseeable future. Beasley has no trade value and Wes Johnson just can't shoot. So they'll end up bundling someone like KLove and trading him for a couple of draft choices and shooting guard. Something stupid, that's what they're known for. Look at their past drafts - they've gotten almost nothing for years.

[JacksonHts]

03:09 PM on 02/21/2012

I don't think they are going to trade Kevin Love after signing him recently. The rumor last week was they were trying to package Derrick Williams to the Lakers, which I think would also be a mistake. Luke Ridnour was doing quite well as 2 Guard for awhile, but his scoring seems to have dropped off.