Dad Of The Year: Nic Batum Credits His Defense By Practicing At Home And Swatting His 5-Year-Old Son's Shit To The Moon

Yep, this checks out. I say this as a father to a son. If you're not sending their shit to the moon, at any age, you're simply not being a good dad. I made sure to start teaching that over the winter to my 1-year old. No buckets. Learn how to finish through traffic, kid. You're not going to have height. Develop a floater, get tougher, use the rim to protect the ball. In this house there is no such thing as too early to learn you're not going to make every shot you take. 

Now granted I'm just a former above average player. I'm not a current NBA player. That's a rough go for the little Batum out there. You're not scoring on your dad nor should you. I firmly believe in the camp of as a father you beat your son in 1 on 1 and the moment he beats you, you quit. Never play again. It's the dad way. My old man threw elbows and backed me down in the post. The moment I became too strong for that and he was too slow (old, fat, whatever) to beat me on the first step he just so happened to be 'busy' with work. By busy I mean falling asleep on the couch watching golf or the Mets. Now imagine all that but you're dad is an NBA player. You're just not beating him unless you're Steph. 

I will say a top-5 reason for having a son is just consistently having a basketball around to play with. Every dad does the same thing - buy a little hoop for the kid around a year old and then you just sit there and shoot at it yourself. Mine is set up in my basement right across from my recliner. I've gotten silly at this distance. 

So shout out Nic Batum. Dad of the year and now a key player for the Clippers.