You never know when it’s going to happen: Young legs gain enough wisdom, while experienced legs rely too much on cunning and muscle memory rather than a full tank of the moment.
When LeBron James announces at age 22 that he’s leading a less than stellar team to the Finals, or when Kobe Bryant sends his idol Michael Jordan to the Finals, we think we’ve Got this. At sunset, there were 50 balls on the ledger.
Those seminal moments are so compelling that it’s hard to pinpoint unless it’s past the point. But it feels like we’re in the midst of a whirlwind in the NBA, where the mantle isn’t being passed on with respect but being forcibly taken away, which is how it should be.
It’s still early and things are bound to turn around. However, it finally felt like a sea change. We’ve always marveled at James’ personal greatness, some 21 years into his career, while other star players of his era are aging gracefully and without fanfare.
Grace, however, can only mean so much. That’s all well and good in grading Kevin Durant and Steph Curry relative to the ghosts of previous generations. But for this new group of teams and players, James, Durant and Curry are ghosts—ghosts with big goals on their backs.
The respect is there, but the fear seems to have disappeared, at least for the team that hired them. Predicting which team will rise from year to year is an educated guess. It’s hard to predict which players will go from having star talent to superstardom, which players will produce like a star and then suddenly win like a star and have the ability to recognize a game is coming and then embrace it.
And never let go.
It speaks more to the expectations of veterans who have won and fought back more times than we can count without caring too much about their age or the tread on their tires. Looking at James Harden ’15 (!), I believe he should be able to call upon the player who scored 30 points in 32 consecutive games back in 2019 – the second-longest streak in NBA history. It’s reflected in one point.
When you look at Klay Thompson, you wonder what went wrong and wonder when he will recover from his baffling shooting slump to start the season. Injuries and shrinkage are well known, but that’s just lip service rather than a true understanding that playing so long and playing so many playoff games comes at a cost.
The bill is coming due.
The standings look familiar and a surprising number of teams feel they have staying power. And Minnesota — yes, Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns’ Timberwolves — are a half-game ahead of the champion Denver Nuggets atop the Western Conference.
It was a joke when Gobert was stuck with Draymond Green; eyebrows were raised a few days ago about fast-break fouls when Anthony Edwards chewed up Green. But it was the basketball that was lost in the theater, and Edwards scored the next 10 points in the fourth quarter to break up a close game and give the Timberwolves an easy win on the road.
It’s clear that Ja Morant and Zion Williamson are players with the game and charisma to lead the next generation, but their respective issues have hindered that promise.
There have been no reports of new trouble for Morant during his 25-game suspension, but unfortunately, you can’t make any assumptions about him. While waiting for the inevitable anvil to fall, Williamson has been a pleasant surprise every game he plays for the Pelicans.
Edwards currently has no such shortcomings. He’s a swaggering ball with confidence and leaps, putting 26-6-5 numbers on the stat sheet nearly every night and doubling his win shares per 48 minutes this season from last season.
Even if he plays in Minnesota, the NBA should feel safe marketing and building on him.
Just below them, are the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder we’ve been joking about is two years away and people have been paying for timeshare demos but no one is actually seeing it.
With the West in tatters, the Warriors made another comeback and the Nuggets were finally healthy enough heading into June that the Thunder had regained form after two consecutive losing seasons.
Curry was smiling when the Thunder’s version of Strachey Armstrong, Chet Holmgren, unexpectedly knocked Curry’s layup out of bounds on Saturday night. But was it a laughable thing when Holmgren interrupted Andrew Wiggins’ resurgence with a contested 3-pointer and sent the game into overtime?
Probably not.
That’s not to say the old guard won’t be heard, or that they’ll just allow newcomers to take over Pride Rock. This is not the case at all. Between now and April, there will be streaks and wins and all standings will be aligned.
James’ another stellar performance against the surprising Houston Rockets was both a reminder of how powerful the Rockets are becoming, which requires James to summon his limited greatness, but also a reminder of the limited amount of greatness James has. Great – his body only had so many nights left. thing.
The more he does now, the less he’ll get when the Lakers really need it. Then the young men would swoop in.
Durant’s performance (31.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists) looked like he did in his only MVP season in 2013-14, except he was more efficient offensively, shooting 49 percent from three-point range. And the defense remains at a high level — holding off Utah forward Lowry on Sunday night and Markkanen’s buzzer-beating shot in double overtime.
But this is about keeping Phoenix alive while Bradley Beal can rest his aching back, not helping the Suns climb to the top of the Western Conference. It’s worth noting that Durant just turned 35, not 25 during his MVP season.
This reminds us that nothing lasts forever. All the training and drugs, load management and knowledge can only delay the inevitable for so long. The old guy is likely to be the last one standing like in May and June, but that’s no longer a sure thing – which adds to the league’s allure.
The so-called talent benefits that many are calling for expansion will soon suffer some unintended consequences. It’s not that there’s more talent than ever; These talents have been around longer than in modern NBA history.
But there’s a clear distinction between the revered players who are still playing and those who are about to ruthlessly compete for the throne.
That’s how it should be.