A single shining act of pure class

Guys like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan never would have done it. It's highly unlikely you'll ever see modern day stars like Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, or Kevin Durant do it either. But Marc Gasol did.

For those who don't know who Marc Gasol is -- he's a 7 foot center for the Memphis Grizzlies, who just got eliminated (actually swept) by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Western conference finals. And by the way, he also won the NBA defensive player of the year award this past season. That's quite an achievement for any player.

Memphis was already down 3-0 in the best of 7 series against San Antonio, and the Grizzlies were playing at home in Game 4. Certainly, they were desperate to win that game and would give it all they had to pull it off and extend the series. It was time to play HARD. To hell with the other team -- do whatever it takes to win this game. Time do get down and dirty. A single basket made or missed might well make the difference in the outcome.

While Spurs' guard Tony Parker was taking a routine jump shot, Marc Gasol, about a foot taller, attempted to block it. Gasol missed the ball, but inadvertently came down with one of his arms and smacked Parker in the face. Though obviously unintentional, Parker hit the floor, and appeared to be concerned with his right eye. The shot was missed, Memphis rebounded the ball, and headed the other way down the court. With Parker down, it should have been 5 on 4 and resulted in an easy basket for Memphis.

But something extraordinary happened. Gasol didn't run the other way with his teammates.

Genuinely concerned about a possible injury to an opponent that he had accidentally caused, Gasol leaned over Parker and offered his hand to help him up.

No, you won't see it in the box scores, and it probably won't show up on the highlight reels.

But for that one brief moment in time, Marc Gasol did something that is very rare in sports these days.

With all of it's ramifications and hype, the game became secondary to him. He was more worried about a fallen opponent.

And THAT is the epitome of a class act.

Bravo.