Dante Cunningham’s adjustment from Villanova to NBA rookie with the Portland Trail Blazers has had its ups-and-downs, to be sure. But last week, it seems, Cunningham found himself subjected to his first highly publicized prank as a professional.

Then again, the prank happened because Cunningham had actually fallen asleep while watching a Dodgers-Cardinals playoff game from a suite at Dodger Stadium.

From an item at Joe Freeman’s blog at The Oregonian newspaper’s website:

Before the Dodgers scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure a 3-2 win, the game was slow enough to put Cunningham to sleep. Literally. The rookie forward ducked into the back of the suite, draped a towel over his face and passed out. Rookie mistake.

Moments later, the towel on Cunningham’s face was gently raised to expose his mouth and team trainer Jay Jensen lodged a tortilla chip in Cunningham’s mouth. Laugher erupted, but the rookie did not wake up. So someone — his identity has not been revealed — removed the chip and replaced it with a jalapeno.

The oozing juice and scorching taste prompted Cunningham to come to.

The item goes on to quote Cunningham laughing off the incident, and vowing payback against his unnamed perpetrator. No word if he and his teammates are heading back to LA to watch the Dodgers play the Phillies in the NLCS.

Link: Cunningham’s rookie mistake [The Oregonian]
Photo credit: [The Oregonian]