Lakers’ Henry jams over former KU teammate Withey

photo by: Richard Gwin

Jeff Withey, left, Xavier Henry, center, and Elijah Johnson dance during a freshman skit at the 2009 Late Night in the Phog.

[Hmmm. What to write about for our ‘Hawks in the NBA blog? What to write? Oh, a couple former Kansas basketball teammates played against each other Tuesday night. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check that out and lead with … HOLY MOTHER OF MONSTER JAMS!]

What on earth did Jeff Withey do to Xavier Henry when they both lived in Lawrence and played for KU to ignite his wrath?

Poor Withey. Let’s read a transcript of the fake dialogue that happened on the play:

Withey: “Oh, there’s my old buddy, Xavier. Better slide over to cut him off. Hey, X. What the … ?”

[Lakers bench explodes, L.A. fans lose it.]

Withey: “Man, I thought we were friends. Doesn’t he remember the good old days?”

photo by: Richard Gwin

Jeff Withey, left, Xavier Henry, center, and Elijah Johnson dance during a freshman skit at the 2009 Late Night in the Phog.

Henry: “Nah. But I remember that time I did this.”

Los Angeles Lakers forward Xavier Henry, top, goes up for a dunk as New Orleans Pelicans center Jeff Withey defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

And scene.

Actually, ESPN Los Angeles writer Dave McMenamin asked Henry about the play against his former KU cohort after the game:



Oh, man. Henry even tweeted about the dunk that earned him the No. 1 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10:



That dialogue might have been pretty accurate.

Anyway, the dunk of the night and Henry’s 15 points busted him out of a four-game slump and helped the Lakers whoop the Pelicans, 116-95.

Meanwhile, this was actually the best game of rookie Withey’s young career: nine points, five rebounds, one block in 18 minutes. And he learned an important lesson: challenge the shot or hustle yourself out of the way before you get posterized.

Getting away from Jayhawk-on-Jayhawk crime, the Miami Heat’s Mario Chalmers (15 points, seven assists in a 118-95 beatdown of the Bucks) spent most of the night confusing Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, a former Texas A&M standout, with highlight-worthy passes. Helps to have that LeBron guy finishing the plays, too.

After helping the two-time defending champion Heat win again, Chalmers, like many former Jayhawks in the NBA, watched KU knock off Duke at the Champions Classic.

Here’s what some of the guys were tweeting about the 94-83 win.

Chalmers enjoyed the show.



Cole Aldrich took to Twitter to hit up KU recruit Tyus Jones, who will announce his college choice Friday.



Brandon Rush provided succinct analysis.



Markieff Morris liked what he saw.



But perhaps the best tweet came well before tipoff, when Chalmers trash-talked Heat teammate and Duke alum Shane Battier — and didn’t even have the common decency to use the man’s twitter handle. #smh