LAS VEGAS -- It started out sloppy, but then there were thunderous Slam Dunk Contest-worthy dunks followed by a stirring comeback capped off by a scintillating buzzer-beating game-winning 3-pointer.

Sometimes the explanation reveals more than the incident itself. In a moment that now lives in basketball infamy, Ben Simmons-- then a member of the Philadelphia 76ers-- passed up what looked to be a ...