Michael challenges the warehouse crew to a lunch time basketball game.
Air date: April 19, 2005
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: Phyllis offers to be a cheerleader for the game but Michael turns her down. Phyllis Smith really was an NFL cheerleader in her younger days.
- Baseball Episode / The Boxing Episode: In this case a basketball episode, but what other work place has people playing basketball? The purpose is the same: it brings out Michael's insecurities and acts as team-building.
- Disqualification-Induced Victory: Michael uses this to cheat. One of the warehouse workers nudges him and Michael calls foul...just after he finds out the office is ahead.
- Hidden Depths: Kevin turns out to be a sharpshooter when it comes to basketball.
- One Head Taller: Roy, Lonny, and Darryl are all significantly taller and bulkier than Michael. The three of them use this size difference to get him to back down.
- Scary Black Man: Both Darryl and Lonny are laidback guys, but you can tell Michael is afraid of them...especially when he tries to get them to work on Saturday.
- Wrong Genre Savvy:
- Michael picks Stanley for the game because he expects the black employee to be good at basketball. When Oscar volunteers, Michael tells him he'll enlist him for baseball.
What's that supposed to mean?- Michael refuses the slower-moving Phyllis and Kevin, who both turn out to be better basketball players than Michael.
