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"Basketball" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series ''The Office'', and the show's fifth episode overall. The episode aired on NBC in the United States on April 19, 2005. The episode was written and directed by producer Greg Daniels, marking both his first solo writing credit and first directing credit for the series. This episode also marks the first appearance of comedian Patrice O'Neal. In this episode, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and the office staff take on the workers in the warehouse in a basketball game. Owing to racist and sexist stereotypes, Michael chooses many less-skilled office workers for the team over their more athletically talented peers. Michael claims a "flagrant personal intentional foul," stops the game, and declares his team as the winners. The warehouse finds the call unfair and Michael caves under pressure, and concedes the victory to the warehouse staff. The episode was inspired by a deleted scene from the first episode where Michael talks about a pick-up basketball game. For two days, the cast of ''The Office'' played actual basketball games, which were then spliced together to give the effect of one continuous game. In addition, several lines from the episode became fan and cast favorites. "Basketball" was viewed by an estimated 5.0 million viewers and received a 2.4/6% rating share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode received positive reviews from critics. ==Synopsis== Michael (Steve Carell) comes in to work prepared to pit the office staff against the warehouse in a game of basketball, with the losers having to work on Saturday. Michael picks Jim (John Krasinski), Ryan (B.J. Novak), and Stanley (Leslie David Baker), the latter of whom he believes possesses significant basketball skills based on a racial stereotype. In addition, he also reluctantly picks Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Phyllis (Phyllis Smith), but refuses to pick Oscar or Kevin (Brian Baumgartner). The game begins and Stanley proves to be a horrible player. Furthermore, Michael cannot make a shot, nor is he a fan of passing or defending. Upon gaining possession of the ball, Michael fools around and intentionally acts stupid to tease the opponents, which results in Roy (David Denman) snatching the ball and scoring against Michael's team. Despite the fact that Michael is the one who foolishly lost the ball, he blames the scoring on his teammates' ineptness. As the game continues, Roy and Jim gradually become aggressive toward each other, with Pam (Jenna Fischer) looking on. At a crucial point in the game, Michael is accidentally hit in the face and claims it is a "flagrant personal intentional foul". He pettily stops the game and declares the office winners since they were winning when the foul occurred. The warehouse finds the call unfair and Michael caves under pressure, conceding the victory to the warehouse staff. As everybody returns to work, Kevin demonstrates his excellent shooting skills. Afterwards, Michael, in a rare moment of heart, tells the office that they do not have to come in on Saturday either. However, his justification does little to calm them: "Like coming in an extra day is going to prevent us from being downsized." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Basketball (The Office)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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