April 3, 2012 | 9:11 pm

FIBA player thanks ‘god’—or ‘God’?—for scoring 113 points in a single game

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Mohammad El Akkari, who plays for Tripoli Moutahed, had a truly legendary game in a Lebanese Division A League Final 8 game. El Akkari, who sports Nick Van Exel socks and came into the game averaging in the single digits, dropped 113 points in his team’s 173-141 win. The most amazing part wasn’t that he made 32 three-pointers, but that he attempted 59. Wilt Chamberlain only attempted 63 field goals, mostly around the basket, when he scored 100 points in a 1962 game. Didn’t the other team think of stepping out on El Akkari and forcing him to drive or at least go mid-range?

Anyway, what caught my eye, besides the fact that he scored more by himself than 11 of the 12 NBA teams that have finished games so far tonight, was this line, via FIBA Asia:

“Thank god for this performance. I think it’s all a result of my practice,” Akkari said from team bus on his way back to Tripoli.

“I also want to thank my coach for letting me play that long and all my teammates for helping,” he added.

Why is that weird? Because God is spelled with a little g. Based on El Akkari’s first name—Mohammad—I was sort of expecting that he was, you know, Muslim. But, like Christians and Jews, Muslims believe in one God.

Just a typo? Probably. Or maybe El Akkari wasn’t thanking God but saying “thank god,” and so the reporter went lowercase g so as not to say God’s name in vain?

Regardless, El Akkari had an amazing night and I don’t think anyone will be rewriting that story anytime soon.

(Thanks to my Entertainment Law Review co-conspirator David for the link.)