Tolliver's light-hearted summer 'decision' a much-needed one

Hopefully, as the NBA's regular-season schedule dropped Tuesday, LeBron James broke out his red marker or yellow highlighter and noted the really important dates: Celtics. Magic. Lakers. Oh, and that team still standing in northeast Ohio.

If James spent even a smidgeon of ink circling or painting the nights when his Miami Heat plays the Minnesota Timberwolves, then Anthony Tolliver might wish he had kept his li'l video joke amongst friends, rather than posting it on YouTube for hundreds of thousands of viewers to see.

Tolliver, an NBA D-League refugee who showed promise among the Golden State rubble this spring, tried to inject a little humor last week into an NBA summer that has been taken ever-so-seriously by most participants and observers. As a relative blip on the league's free agent radar, the 6-foot-9 product of Creighton chose a two-year contract with Minnesota (worth a reported $4.5 million) over a less lucrative offer -- and far more uncertain situation -- with the Warriors. But he did so in a way that earned him attention way beyond his pay grade, along with a lot of laughs, chuckles and smiles.

With a bare-bones video camera, spotty bathroom lighting, some scribblings on sheets of notebook paper and an unseen female interviewer who at least got to the point a lot quicker than Jim Gray, Tolliver spoofed a much more grand free-agent moment from a month earlier. His production was entitled "The Decision: Part Deux!!" and in it, Tolliver does in 69 seconds what James, Gray and the crew in Greenwich, Conn., needed an hour of prime-time television to accomplish.

Even then, Tolliver dawdled a bit to, er, heighten the tension.

"I think I made my decision this morning while using the bathroom," he said, responding to the interviewer. "It just came to me."

At that point, Tolliver scrawls his team of choice below camera range, then ends the interminable wait -- for anyone watching in dire need of a bathroom break, at least -- by announcing: "I will be taking my services to the north, the Minnesota Timberwolves." As he holds up the piece of paper, the sound effect of a wolf's howl can be heard in the distance.

Tolliver's homemade version was about as far from James' and ESPN's production as possible. It was extremely low-tech, with production values on par with convenience-store surveillance cams. Few outside his immediate family were hanging on his decision -- OK, maybe some folks in his native Springfield, Mo., and a few Creighton or Golden State fans -- and it isn't even known if Tolliver really kept it secret. His destination could scarcely be farther from Miami in climate, geography, lifestyle or basketball ambitions. James is an NBA icon; Tolliver was one of three guys named Anthony with the Warriors last season.

Still, it was a nice, light touch, a good-natured needle stuck into the big, lead balloon that James' much-criticized hour of narcissism put aloft over this offseason. Again, hopefully, The King will be cool with this court jester and not make it his business to pulverize Tolliver by whatever means possible when their teams clash this season.

Should James choose to go that route rather than throwing an arm around his almost-teammate's shoulder, while having a good laugh, the former Cleveland star probably will have comedian Steve Carrell in his crosshairs next. Carrell's video spoof of "The Decision," aired as part of ESPN's ESPYs award ceremony, lasted almost four minutes.

That one was great fun, too. Just like Tolliver's.

"Well, literally, I thought about it and I decided to do it within five minutes, and I made the video in about one minute," Tolliver said in an interview  on the Timberwolves' website. "And there was not really too much thought process into it, but people were like 'Wow, that was really creative!' ... I did say, 'Hey, play the howl sound after I show the 'Minnesota' but other than that, you know, everything is just kind of spur of the moment."

Not unlike Tolliver's pro career, which has whipped him across leagues, levels and continents, rarely if ever feeling like he had a say in the decision. Undrafted in 2007 after a senior year in which he averaged 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.73 blocks, Tolliver spent the 2007-08 preseason with the Cavaliers, then signed with the D-League's Iowa Energy in November. By February, he was playing for Eisbaren Bremerhaven in Germany.

His 2008-09 season went like this: Signed by San Antonio, assigned to the Austin Toros, recalled and waived by the Spurs, back to the Energy, acquired on a 10-day deal by New Orleans, dropped by the Hornets, signed in February by Galatasary Café Crown in the Turkish league.

Last season, Tolliver went to training camp with Miami but got waived late in the preseason. He spent 12 days around Christmas with Portland, then latched on in January with the Warriors via two 10-day contracts. Golden State liked him enough to sign him for the rest of the season.

What did it like?

Tolliver has a lithe, active body and a surprising shooting touch for a player his size. In fact, his game suggests a 'tweener, part small forward and part power, but that worked just fine in coach Don Nelson's helium-injected system at Golden State. Tolliver got major minutes late in the season -- he topped 40 in a game 12 times in the final month and a half -- and his stats (12.3 points, 7.3 rebounds) benefited. There wasn't always a lot of resistance, nor was there much urgency overall -- the Warriors went 26-56 last season -- but there was for Tolliver himself. It probably is no coincidence that he scored a career-high 34 points in an April 7 game against the Wolves.

But Minnesota does like Tolliver's potential in the open court, his ability to play away from the basket as a shooter and passer in coach Kurt Rambis' triangle-based attack and his work ethic. The Wolves, after all, have been selling "early offense" and "effort" for a couple of summers now, while waiting for tangible results.

Upon signing, Tolliver joked about coping with Minnesota's weather, mentioning the four years he spent in college in Omaha. He also talked about the Oklahoma City Thunder, the noise it made last season and postseason, and mentioned the Wolves' youth in the same sentence.

See, a sense of humor can be a valuable thing.

Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA for 25 years. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

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