***Official 2022-2023 NBA Thread***

[dirk digler]

Can't believe the regular season starts tonight. Just seemed like the Finals ended a couple weeks ago.



Philly vs Celtics: 6:30PM CST TNT

GSW vs Lakers: 9:00PM CST TNT

[KC_Connection]

Also, I still have no idea how Kobe manages to find his way onto those lists.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

"It's unimpeachable that Steph is in the Top 10."

— @Chris_Broussard's Top 10 Players in NBA history:

Big 3: Jordan | LeBron | Kareem
Locks: Magic | Bird | Steph | Duncan | Kobe | Russell
Pick 1: Wilt | Shaq pic.twitter.com/Zu9QFabcir

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) May 1, 2023

So I stumbled on video about Wilt. I know you can always cherry pick things, but I came away impressed...

It's hard to compare era's, but I wouldn't have Wilt that far down...

Maybe if you just flipped Wilt and Steph...

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

So I stumbled on video about Wilt. I know you can always cherry pick things, but I came away impressed...

It's hard to compare era's, but I wouldn't have Wilt that far down...

Maybe if you just flipped Wilt and Steph...

Agreed, prime Wilt dominates any era. He was a physical freak.

[Valiant]

Just idiotic. You spout kd was the star. But didn't do shit before or after. Curry keeps doing well. Won a championship last year again. If kd was actually the MVP. Where is that play now? Curry was always the leader and heart of that team. He just stepped back and help utilize his chess pieces.

The guys around him always seem to play better. What guys or even stars has LeBron made better?

Hell he forces tradea of most of them. Dude could of trained wiggens but dealt him for love.

Curry is the icon of the past decade. Revolutionized basketball with how he shoots 3s. Kids growing up shout curry with deep 3s.

All the great get mimicked.
Jordan tongue, dunk, turnaround
Kobe, jumpshoot or turnaround.
Curry, 3pointer

Lebron's, is the flop or crying face.


****ing hilarious.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Valiant

Just idiotic. You spout kd was the star.

I don't spout it. He literally won Finals MVP twice for the Warriors as the best player on that team and you had idiots here and elsewhere actually saying he was better than LeBron because of it. Curry wasn't in the conversation and he wasn't in the conversation for a reason. KD was vastly superior to him as a player and it was obvious to everyone watching those games.

The guys around him always seem to play better. What guys or even stars has LeBron made better?

Curry pathetically cried to Kevin Durant to come join his 73 win team because he couldn't beat LeBron with said team. What are we talking about here?

Hell he forces tradea of most of them. Dude could of trained wiggens but dealt him for love.

LeBron took teams with complete scrubs to the Finals (see 2007 with Mo Williams) repeatedly. His offensive game gets his teammates open shots all over the floor and has for two decades now.

And what the hell would the point have been in keeping a rookie in Wiggins (who accomplished absolutely nothing in his NBA career until he became the 4th option at GSW)? He got Cleveland their first title partly because of that trade.

Curry is the icon of the past decade. Revolutionized basketball with how he shoots 3s. Kids growing up shout curry with deep 3s.

Curry is certainly the icon of choking every late and close game he's ever played. He's not the guy you want shooting with the game on the line.

Even the fans know it:

It’s Game 7 and your team needs a 3 to win the game… who you want taking the shot?

RT for Steph
LIKE for LeBron pic.twitter.com/52QQwLSeYB

— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) May 1, 2023

[dirk digler]

Maybe I am wrong but when you have an injury plagued star player you should probably have a viable backup.

[Miles]

Just turned on the early game and wasn’t expecting it to be this close in the 4th.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Valiant

Just idiotic. You spout kd was the star. But didn't do shit before or after. Curry keeps doing well. Won a championship last year again. If kd was actually the MVP. Where is that play now? Curry was always the leader and heart of that team. He just stepped back and help utilize his chess pieces.

Curry is the icon of the past decade. Revolutionized basketball with how he shoots 3s. Kids growing up shout curry with deep 3s.

I believe you are mostly correct. Steph won one before KD and then last year while KD hasn't sniffed a championship since. That is not to say KD didn't play the best in the 2 Finals that he won FMVP because he did. But they don't win without Steph and to act like Curry was some kind of bystander is an uneducated take. The pairing was mutually beneficially.

Draymond talked about this recently where he said Curry got double teamed more than KD, KD didn't like that but the stats bear that out.

In 2017, Eric Apricot reviewed every basket Durant and Curry scored to determine how often each star created the look for the other. Apricot’s conclusion:

The simplest, most holistic answer is having two of them on the court creates space for both, relieving them of the pressure of creating offense every single play.

The first thing that probably jumps out at you is that Curry created a LOT more points for Durant than Durant did for Curry (almost four times as many!). This makes sense as Curry is meant to be more of a facilitator and Durant more of a finisher, but i was still surprised by the big difference

Curry directly created a lot of points for Durant in the 2017 Finals, through a combination of gravity, passing and screening, about 8 PPG on average. He continues to be an underrated player, and would have been a plausible Finals MVP.

Durant created a lot of points through individual excellence, about 21.6 points per game. So it is unfair to say that he was carried by Curry or the system. The video shows he made numerous difficult contested shots. He was a very deserving Finals MVP, especially considering his defensive contributions.

That’s not just about Curry getting double-teamed, but it’s a key part of the story.

Apricot made a video showing Durant’s buckets aided by Curry. Notice how frequently Curry had multiple defenders on him: https://youtu.be/f3mdM43RkNo

Despite willingly sharing team leadership, Curry managed an impressive Finals line himself, averaging 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 9.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Furthermore, Curry got double-teamed aggressively throughout the series, sometimes leaving Durant wide open as defenders scrambled to cover Curry instead.

An argument could be made for Curry remaining the most valuable and best player on the Warriors. When he has a bad game, Golden State loses.

He reposted the article here if anyone is interested. https://dubnationhq.com/p/the-great-...curry-vs-kevin

This is backed up by Tyron Lue who said they blitzed and double teamed Curry in both Finals not KD.

"He's so dangerous, probably the most dangerous player in the league, the way he can get hot and score the basketball. We got to make him work on both ends and try to get him in foul trouble... Like I said, you are dealing with a two-time MVP and someone I have great respect for... You got to remember, in 2017 and 2018, we blitzed him with Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson on the floor. That's how dangerous I think he is."

Definitely agree Curry is the icon of the past decade as far as basketball player goes, Mahomes is that for football now. The reason being is you can't emulate Lebron because most kids aren't going to be 6-9 and 250 lbs. But kids definitely can emulate Curry and let's be honest he is way more likable that Lebron.

[dirk digler]

Harden going off

[KCUnited]

Tatum with a swolled up coin purse

[dirk digler]

Lots of nut hits in these playoffs

[dirk digler]

Holy shit what a shot by the beard

[Miles]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Holy shit what a shot by the beard

I was just waiting for the dribble out the clock for a contested 3 but he actually drained it this time.

[ChiefaRoo]

Marcus Smart is a really stupid basketball player. Always has been.

[KC_Connection]

Always a good day when the Celtics get absolutely embarrassed.