Nets rookie Cory Jefferson throws up an airball for the ages (Videos)

While watching this live, I assumed that Cory Jefferson was attempting an ill-fated pass.

You want to believe. You want to hope that an NBA-level pro working for the Brooklyn Nets would do better than shooting a wide-open 24-foot shot some 19 feet – if that. You try to be a glass half-full sort of guy. An appalling optimist. Perhaps we’re projecting.

Because, yeah, look at the tape:

Cory Jefferson is a rookie, and he’ll shoot a better percentage of wide-open three-pointers in his team’s daily shootarounds than 99 percent of the readers who will click on that video (he did hit 41 percent of his three-pointers in college). In retrospect, though, that wasn’t a pass. That was a terrible shot that Jefferson (who has yet to hit a three-pointer this season in five attempts) may have hesitated on far too late into his windup and release. The only possible Net in his range of vision would have been Jarrett Jack, the man who passed the ball to the rookie, who wasn’t exactly hanging out underneath the rim, ready for an assist.

Nope, it was just a shank. These things tend to happen, especially in a Brooklyn Nets season gone terribly wrong.

Jefferson finished with four points, four rebounds and a turnover in 13 minutes – but his turnover was the first of his NBA career. Prior to the contest he had played 47 total NBA minutes, contributing 20 points and 12 rebounds. Not a great run, but not all that terrible either.

The Nets fell to the Bulls by 25 points. Jefferson’s whiff may have been an actual shot, but I think it’s definitely time for all of us to give Brooklyn’s season a pass.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops