Spooner's awful basketball shot is wasted (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
dead drunk
'spooner's awful basketball' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'shot is wasted' is the wordplay.
'shot' becomes 'dead' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'is wasted' becomes 'drunk' (I've seen this in another clue).
'dead'+'drunk'='DEAD-DRUNK'
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