George Hill Challenges Bird, Vogel, Walsh to Ice Bucket Challenge

George Hill took the cheater route to completing his ice bucket challenge for ALS, but challenged Larry Bird, Frank Vogel, and Donnie Walsh. I’m not sure two of those guys use the internet regularly, so the 24-hour window probably isn’t long enough for either Bird or Walsh to complete their task — nor do I believe either man would go through with it for reasons having to do with “What is this? … Yeah, no.”

To that end, c’mon, George Hill: You can’t challenge a 73-year-old man with health issues to dump ice water on his head. Additionally, it’s pretty weak to take the Kobe Bryant route while , for reasons explained by Mike Prada at SB Nation.

"Nooooope. Nope nope nope. This won’t work, Kobe Bryant. I know you need to rehab your muscles in an ice bath every day. I know you’re trying to be clever.But the whole idea of this vapid exercise that so many are doing without actually donating to ALS research is that your whole body gets a sudden surge of freezing water in half a second. Putting your legs in a cold tub allows your body to get used to the temperature. I’m not fooled by your attempt to pretend like you’re cold."

Yes.

On a serious note, however, Larry Bird’s mother died of ALS, so I’m sure he is pleased by the $15 million (so far) donated towards researching a cure via this fundraiser-turned-phenomenon.

Here is an excerpt from the AP report following her death in 1996.

"[Georgia] Bird died early Tuesday morning at her West Baden Springs home of her daughter, Linda Goughenour. The cause was Lou Gehrig’s disease, Goughenour said.“She had a hard year, a hard 15 months, but she was very strong and determined to the end,” said Goughenour.Goughenour said that all of her brothers had spent time with their mother in the days before her death. She said her brother Larry left for Boston on Monday to be at the Celtics training camp.“He had to leave for NBA camp in Boston, but he had spent two days with her,” she said.Goughenour said her mother was diagnosed in July 1995 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease."

Hill is just the latest of several Pacers players to complete the challenge (and hopefully make a sizable donation towards to cause, a la Charlie Sheen).

Reggie Miller also recently dumped water on his head. In doing so, he challenged former Pacer Mark Jackson (as well as Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal) to do the same.