Cougars

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Oscar Tshiebwe kept battling for position, pushing his way to daylight and grabbing seemingly every loose rebound with a rugged relentlessness.
No one was going to stop him, either.
When it was over, the two-time Associated Press All-American had turned in the best rebounding performance in the NCAA Tournament in nearly a half-century &mdash; and Kentucky was free to move past last year&rsquo;s one-and-done showing.
Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds and Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, helping the Wildcats beat Providence 61-53 in Friday night&rsquo;s first round.
Tshiebwe&rsquo;s rebounding output represented the most in any tournament game since 1977. Eleven of his rebounds came on the offensive glass &mdash; a big factor in the sixth-seeded Wildcats (22-11) staying in control as both offenses grinded to a halt after halftime.
&ldquo;I told (my teammates), I said, &lsquo;This year we come in and fight, last year doesn&rsquo;t matter anymore,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Tshiebwe, who entered as the nation&rsquo;s leading rebounder at 13.1 per game.
The &ldquo;last year,&rdquo; of course, was the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-saint-peters-upsets-kentucky-b0fdd8fbd0ea432a9b6150f0cd8e6b22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shocking first-round exit against 15th-seeded Saint Peter&rsquo;s</a> that had hung over the program all season. Now the Wildcats are moving on to face the Montana State-Kansas State winner Sunday in the East Region.
&ldquo;Yeah, it was a big relief obviously,&rdquo; forward Jacob Toppin said.
When the horn sounded, guard Cason Wallace let out a scream before giving a chest bump to Reaves. And Tshiebwe soon emerged from a postgame TV interview by gleefully skipping his way off toward the locker room.
His rebounding total was the most in the tournament since Michigan&rsquo;s Phil Hubbard had 26 boards against Detroit Mercy in 1977.
Behind Tshiebwe, Kentucky finished with a 48-31 rebounding advantage, controlling the offensive glass (plus-10) and dominating in second-chance points for an 18-2 edge.
That was vital considering shots weren&rsquo;t falling; Kentucky shot 36.5% overall but just 7 of 28 (25%) after halftime.
Reeves hit five 3-pointers to lead the offense, while Toppin had his own big game with 18 points. Tshiebwe managed eight points, but he was still an indomitable force that the 11th-seeded Friars (21-12) just couldn&rsquo;t manage.
&ldquo;Sometimes you just have an &lsquo;it,&rsquo; a la Dennis Rodman, Ben Wallace,&rdquo; Providence coach Ed Cooley said. &ldquo;Those guys just have an &lsquo;it&rsquo; for it. Some guys have an &lsquo;it&rsquo; to score. Some people have an &lsquo;it&rsquo; to pass. He has an incredible &lsquo;it,&rsquo; an elite &lsquo;it&rsquo; to rebound.&rdquo;
Ed Croswell scored 16 points for Providence, which shot just 36.2% while making 5 of 24 3-pointers. The Friars matched the Wildcats&rsquo; second-half troubles, making just 8 of 27 shots (29.6%).
&ldquo;You can say you wish you could win this game and all that,&rdquo; Friars guard Jared Bynum said, &ldquo;but you have to embrace the moment at the end of it.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Providence: The Friars have been to the NCAAs seven times in the past nine seasons under Cooley, including last year&rsquo;s Sweet 16 before falling to eventual champion Kansas. But they entered this game just 3-6 in NCAA games under Cooley.
Kentucky: The Wildcats got off to a successful though grinding start to March Madness &mdash; and that was good enough for coach John Calipari.
&ldquo;If in this tournament, winning is a relief, what the heck are you doing here?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is joy.&rdquo;
KEY STRETCH
Tshiebwe came through in a tight game, starting with &mdash; what else? &mdash; his rebounding.
With Kentucky leading 50-46, he leapt to dunk home Wallace&rsquo;s missed drive. Minutes later, he came up with a steal, then an offensive rebound off his own miss before feeding Chris Livingston on the other side of the paint for the layup and a 54-46 lead with 2:43 left.
BUMPY REUNION
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-transfers-blake-hinson-bryce-hopkins-5bafaa08f771c7cb8e389f9fbe750213" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The game marked a reunion</a>&nbsp;between Providence star Bryce Hopkins and the Kentucky program he left behind. Hopkins came in averaging 16.1 points, but finished with just seven on 2-for-9 shooting in a tough night while being chased primarily by Toppin.
Hopkins fought back tears as he made his way through the postgame handshake line with Calipari and former teammates.
FULL STOP
The game&rsquo;s oddest moment&nbsp;came at the foul line.
With 8:36 left before halftime, Providence&rsquo;s Clifton Moore launched a free throw that hit the rim on the left side and rolled all the way around the inside of the rim before popping out and sitting on the back of the goal.
And then, it just stopped and stayed there.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
What are the odds? 😂<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> <a href="https://t.co/XGCiyy9pVd">pic.twitter.com/XGCiyy9pVd</a>
&mdash; NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1636875109322612738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The 6-foot-9 Toppin stood next to an official under the net looking up at the ball, his hands on his hips, before jumping to tap it loose.
It went down as a miss. Moore made the second.
LOOK-INS
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/no-16-fairleigh-dickinson-stuns-no-1-seed-purdue-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The upset by 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson against No. 1 seed Purdue</a>&nbsp;in Columbus, Ohio, drew a captivated audience in Greensboro Coliseum for live look-ins being shown on the scoreboard.
During one timeout, with Fairleigh Dickinson up five in the final seconds, fans in Greensboro began chanting &ldquo;FDU! FDU!&rdquo; and booing whenever the game was taken off the scoreboard even when Providence-Kentucky had resumed on the court below.

Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down 25 rebounds, helping the Kentucky Wildcats beat Providence 61-53 in Friday night’s first round.

Tshiebwe’s 25 boards helps Kentucky top Providence in NCAA opener

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The 12 best modern-history players to never make an NBA All-Star team

STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Joey Calcaterra scored all of his 14 points in the second half to help second-ranked UConn rally from its first second-half deficit of the season for an 84-73 victory over Georgetown on Tuesday night.
Tristan Newton had 17 points and seven assists, while Adama Sanogo added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (13-0, 2-0 Big East). Jordan Hawkins scored 15 points and Andre Jackson finished with seven points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Primo Spears had 19 points and Qudus Wahab 16 points and nine rebounds for Georgetown (5-8, 0-2).
UConn led by seven at halftime, but a dunk by former UConn forward/center Akok Akok gave Georgetown a 51-49 lead with 16:35 left to play. It was the first time this season that the Huskies have trailed in the second half this season.
NO. 5 ARIZONA 85, MONTANA STATE 64
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Kerr Kriisa scored 18 points, Cedric Henderson Jr. added 16 and Arizona pulled away in the second half to beat Montana State.
Arizona (11-1) pulled it out by wearing down Montana State and hitting 10 of 25 3-pointers for its 26th straight home win. Oumar Ballo had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and the Wildcats scored 20 points off Montana State&rsquo;s 20 turnovers. Kriisa went 6 of 9 from 3.
Jubrile Belo had 18 points and RaeQuan Battle added 17 for the Bobcats (7-6), who shot 3 for 24 from the 3-point arc.
NO. 22 MIAMI 66, NO. 6 VIRGINIA 64
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Isaiah Wong scored 24 points and Miami held on during a frantic finish to beat Virginia.
Jordan Miller finished with 11 points while Norchad Omier had 10 for the Hurricanes (12-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a six-game losing streak against the Cavaliers.
Miami led 61-51 on a free throw by Wong with 1:56 to play. Virginia (8-2, 1-1) went on an 8-0 run from there. Kihei Clark&rsquo;s layup with 26 seconds left made it 61-59, and Clark made three free throws with 5 seconds remaining to get the Cavaliers within 65-64, but Virginia couldn&rsquo;t finish it off and lost its second straight.
Ohio University transfer Ben Vander Plas scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half, his highest-scoring game for the Cavaliers. Clark had 13 points and Beekman finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
NO. 9 ALABAMA 84, JACKSON STATE 64
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Noah Gurley scored a season-high 16 points and Mark Sears had 15, all in the second half, to Alabama past Jackson State.
The Crimson Tide (10-2), coming off a 100-90 loss to No. 11 Gonzaga, struggled much of the way and even trailed a minute into the second half against the Tigers (1-11).
Nick Pringle had 14 points and nine rebounds for Alabama after coming into the game scoring less than one per game.
Ken Evans led Jackson State with 18 points.
NO. 11 GONZAGA 85, MONTANA 75
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored a season-high 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Gonzaga won its 72nd straight home game.
Gonzaga&rsquo;s home win streak is tied with UNLV (1974-78) for the ninth-longest in NCAA history. It&rsquo;s the longest streak since Lamar&rsquo;s 80-game run from 1978-84.
Timme started 4 for 9 from the free throw line but went 4 for 4 down the stretch to seal the game for the Bulldogs (10-3) after a late Montana rally. The Grizzlies (6-6) cut a 17-point, second-half deficit to five with 3:06 to play on Josh Bannan&rsquo;s jumper but couldn&rsquo;t get any closer.
Bannan scored 19 points for Montana.
NO. 12 BAYLOR 58, NORTHWESTERN STATE 48
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Jalen Bridges scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half, and Baylor pulled away from Northwestern State.
LJ Cryer and Dale Bonner added 11 points apiece for the Bears (9-2), who have won four in a row.
Baylor went on a 14-0 run to take control for good after Northwestern State&rsquo;s DeMarcus Sharp made a jumper to open the second-half scoring and tie the game at 24.
Sharp had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Northwestern State (8-4).
WAKE FOREST 81, NO. 14 DUKE 70
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Tyree Appleby had 18 points and eight assists as Wake Forest ended Duke&rsquo;s eight-game road winning streak.
Cameron Hildreth added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Demon Deacons (9-4, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led nearly the entire game. Wake Forest led 39-30 at halftime, then pushed that margin to as many as 15 points. Wake Forest shot 49.1% and had five double-figure scorers.
Jaylen Blakes scored a career-high 17 points to lead Duke (10-3, 1-1), which never got closer than seven after the break.
DRAKE 58, NO. 15 MISSISSIPPI STATE 52
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Roman Penn scored 19 points, Sardaar Calhoun made four of his career-high five 3-pointers in the second half, and Drake handed Mississippi State its first loss.
Calhoun finished with 17 points and Tucker DeVries added 15 for Drake (9-3), which beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2013.
Eric Reed Jr. scored all of his team-high 11 points in the first half for Mississippi State (11-1).
DeVries&rsquo; floater in the lane put Drake up 52-50 with 1:51 left in the neutral-site game, and Penn hit a jumper for a four-point lead with just over a minute left. Penn made four free throws in the last 10 seconds to secure Drake&rsquo;s first win over a Power Five opponent since it beat Kansas State in the 2020-21 season opener.
NO. 18 INDIANA 96, ELON 72
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Race Thompson had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and short-handed Indiana beat Elon.
The Hoosiers were missing their two leading scorers. Center Trayce Jackson-Davis (16.4 points per game) sat for precautionary reasons with nagging back and hand injuries, and point guard Xavier Johnson (9.9 points) was sidelined by a foot injury.
But the Hoosiers (9-3) had too much depth against the visitors from the Colonial Athletic Association as they ended a two-game skid. Freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino had 17 points and seven assists for the Hoosiers.
Max Mackinnon led Elon (2-11) with 19 points and Sean Halloran added 15.
PROVIDENCE 103, NO. 24 MARQUETTE 98, 2OT
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Bryce Hopkins had 29 points and 23 rebounds &mdash; both career highs &mdash; and grabbed the offensive board on a missed free throw with 15 seconds left in the second overtime to help Providence run out the clock and beat Marquette.
The Friars (10-3, 2-0 Big East) won their fourth straight game and improved to 4-0 in overtime this season. Devin Carter and Ed Croswell scored 20 points apiece for Providence, which beat a ranked team for the fourth straight season.
Native Rhode Islander Tyler Kolek scored a career-high 29 points before fouling out in the second overtime, and Kam Jones added 24 points for the Golden Eagles (9-4, 1-1).
Marquette blew a nine-point lead in the final minutes of regulation and rallied from an eight-point deficit in the first overtime.

A recap of Tuesday night's men's college basketball slate features a handful of top-15 upsets and a close one for the Huskies.

Calcaterra, No. 2 UConn pull away in second half to beat Hoyas

Joe Dumars might have been destined for this job.
He played with the Bad Boys, those Detroit Pistons teams that were physical, aggressive and intimidating. And even in those rough-and-tumble times, he wound up becoming the first recipient of the NBA&rsquo;s sportsmanship award &mdash; now called the Joe Dumars Trophy.
He&rsquo;s now tasked with ensuring that players don&rsquo;t act like his old teammates often did. Dumars became Executive Vice President and Head of Basketball Operations for the NBA in May, making him a major decider in all things related to player discipline for on-court actions.
His first big decisions related to player discipline came earlier this week, when the NBA <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/heat-forwards-caleb-martin-nikola-jovic-suspended-one-game" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspended Miami Heat teammates Caleb Martin and Nikola Jovic</a> for their roles in a scuffle during a game against the Toronto Raptors.
&ldquo;You want to do something where you really feel like you&rsquo;re contributing,&rdquo; Dumars said. &ldquo;Basically, this is the only place I haven&rsquo;t contributed to in this game.&rdquo;
At 59, with two championships as a player, another as an executive and a lifetime within the game, he doesn&rsquo;t have to be working. He could be spending his days playing and watching tennis, the sport he started playing as a 10-year-old and has loved ever since.
Instead, he&rsquo;s moved to New York, with office views from a high-rise not far from Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, smack in the middle of Manhattan.
&ldquo;I tell people that we are stewards of the game,&rdquo; Dumars said. &ldquo;And people go, &lsquo;What does that mean?&rsquo; Well, we make sure that the trains are taking off on time. We make sure that the game stays clean. We make sure that there&rsquo;s any time there&rsquo;s any disruption or things that should not be, we are here to clean this up and make sure we are presenting a great product and presenting it the right way.&rdquo;
When an altercation happens like the one Saturday in Miami, the players involved are asked to consent to an interview with league officials, video is reviewed, and Dumars and other top executives decide the best course of action.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Tensions are HIGH between the Raps and Heat! Caleb Martin and Christian Koloko get into it on the court. <a href="https://t.co/7bNwJf0sAI">pic.twitter.com/7bNwJf0sAI</a>
&mdash; TSN (@TSN_Sports) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSN_Sports/status/1583997790845161473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2022</a></blockquote>

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It&rsquo;s reasonable to think this call by Dumars and his team was easy: Martin drove Toronto&rsquo;s Christian Koloko into some baseline seats &mdash; thankfully unoccupied at the time &mdash; and Jovic, even though he didn&rsquo;t really appear to do much to add fuel to the fire, clearly left the bench area and therefore broke one of the NBA&rsquo;s absolute no-no&rsquo;s.
Martin missed Monday&rsquo;s game against the Raptors and will lose roughly $45,000 in salary.
&ldquo;I definitely don&rsquo;t disagree with it,&rdquo; a contrite Martin, who reached out to Koloko to apologize and promised him that he&rsquo;d be picking up a future dinner check.
Jovic also had to sit out Monday, meaning the Heat rookie has now been suspended for more games (one) than he has played (zero).
What happened Saturday could have been much worse, since Martin, Koloko and about a dozen other people all wound up where fans were. Martin ended up next to a woman in the second row; her halftime acquisition of a large popcorn, somehow, was not spilled.
But things didn&rsquo;t escalate, Dumars acted swiftly, and case closed.
Not everything has been that easy for the league in recent weeks &mdash; Phoenix owner Robert Sarver will likely sell his NBA and WNBA franchises before his one-year suspension for boorish behavior ends, Boston coach Ime Udoka will miss this entire season because of an inappropriate workplace relationship, Golden State had to deal with Draymond Green punching teammate Jordan Poole in practice and video of that exchange leaking, and Detroit assistant general manager Rob Murphy was placed on leave following allegations of misconduct made by a female former team employee.
Sarver was suspended by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The other incidents have been handled at the team level. On-court matters, those rise to Dumars&rsquo; desk high above Manhattan.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m super excited to work with him, and to learn from him, and to collaborate with him,&rdquo; said Monty McCutchen, the NBA vice president overseeing referee operations. &ldquo;The best collaborations are collaborations that both people, both groups, both departments benefit from. And in this short time, Joe has really proven to be a collaborator and to be a builder of relationships. I&rsquo;m excited about what that means for the future.&rdquo;
Dumars knows what it&rsquo;s like to be on the receiving end of the player-discipline side of stories. He might not have had the full &ldquo;Bad Boy&rdquo; reputation earned by Pistons teammates like Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, Isiah Thomas and John Salley. But he certainly wasn&rsquo;t immune to scuffles; he was fined twice in December 1990 alone for dustups with twin brothers Harvey and Horace Grant, the second of those coming in a Christmas game. And as a Pistons executive, he was once fined $500,000 for leaking memos to a reporter.
He thinks having been on all sides of the NBA will only help him in this new gig.
&ldquo;If I didn&rsquo;t have the career I had, maybe my mentality would be different,&rdquo; Dumars said. &ldquo;But when you&rsquo;ve done stuff at the highest level in this in this business, that&rsquo;s kind of where you want to live.&rdquo;

In May, Dumars was named the Executive Vice President and Head of Basketball Operations for the NBA. He discusses his new role.

Joe Dumars was made for his new role at the NBA

MOSCOW (AP) &mdash; A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, a step that could move her closer to a possible high-stakes prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.
The eight-time all-star center with the WNBA&rsquo;s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow&rsquo;s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Griner, 32, was not at the Moscow Regional Court hearing but appeared via video link from a penal colony outside the capital where she is held.
At her trial, Griner admitted to having the canisters in her luggage but testified she packed them inadvertently in her haste to make her flight and had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements saying she had been prescribed cannabis to treat chronic pain.
The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years, and Griner&rsquo;s lawyers argued after the conviction that the punishment was excessive. They said in similar cases defendants have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole.
While upholding the sentence, the court said Griner&rsquo;s prison time will be recalculated to reflect what she has already served in pre-trial detention. One day in pre-trial detention will be counted as 1 1/2 days in prison, so she still will have to serve about eight years in prison.
Griner&rsquo;s lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said in an email that they were &ldquo;very disappointed&rdquo; with the decision because they still believe &ldquo;the punishment is excessive and contradicts to the existing court practice.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Britthey&rsquo;s biggest fear is that she is not exchanged and will have to serve the whole sentence in Russia,&rdquo; they said. &ldquo;She had hopes for today, as each month, each day away from her family and friends matters to her.&rdquo;
They said they had to discuss with Griner what legal steps they should take next.
Griner&rsquo;s arrest in February came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner was returning to play for a Russian team during the WNBA&rsquo;s offseason.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the decision &ldquo;another failure of justice, compounding the injustice of her detention,&rdquo; adding that &ldquo;securing her release is our priority.&rdquo;
Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be &ldquo;wrongfully detained&rdquo; &mdash; a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that U.S. President Joe Biden &ldquo;is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home.&rdquo;
The WNBA Players Association said the ruling was &ldquo;further verification that BG is not just wrongfully detained -&ndash; she is very clearly a hostage.&rdquo;
Reflecting growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a &ldquo;substantial proposal&rdquo; to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
Blinken didn&rsquo;t elaborate, but The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the &ldquo;merchant of death.&rdquo;
The White House said it has not yet received a productive response from Russia to the offer.
Russian diplomats have refused to comment on the U.S. proposal and urged Washington to discuss the matter in confidential talks, avoiding public statements. But some Russian officials have said a deal is more likely once appeals have been exhausted.
In September, Biden met with Cherelle Griner, the player&rsquo;s wife, as well as her agent, Lindsay Colas. Biden also sat down separately with Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan&rsquo;s sister.
The White House said after the meetings that the president stressed to the families his &ldquo;continued commitment to working through all available avenues to bring Brittney and Paul home safely.&rdquo;
The U.S. and Russia carried out a prisoner swap in April. Moscow released U.S. Marines veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for the U.S. releasing a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
Moscow also has pushed for the release of other Russians in U.S. custody.
One of them is Alexander Vinnik, who was accused of laundering billions of dollars through an illicit cryptocurrency exchange. Vinnik was arrested in Greece in 2017 and extradited to the U.S. in August.
Vinnik&rsquo;s French lawyer, Frederic Belot, told Russian newspaper Izvestia last month that his client hoped to be part of a possible swap.
The newspaper speculated that another possible candidate was Roman Seleznev, the son of a Russian lawmaker. He was sentenced in 2017 to 27 years in prison on charges from a hacking and credit card fraud scheme.
&mdash;-
AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in New York contributed.

A Russian court rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession.

Russian court rejects Brittney Griner appeal of her 9-year sentence

MILAN (AP) &mdash; The stars showed up at EuroBasket on Tuesday in a big way.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points in 27 minutes for Greece, Luka Doncic had 36 points for Slovenia and two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic scored 29 points for Serbia &mdash; three of the world&rsquo;s best players all leading their teams to big group-stage wins at the European championships.
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Ain&rsquo;t nothing but a little Luka Magic 🪄 36 PTS 10 REB 4 AST<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a><a href="https://t.co/hIo3xZOABm">pic.twitter.com/hIo3xZOABm</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567255650132004865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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There&rsquo;s one more group-stage game left for each to play, and then a trip to Berlin awaits since Greece, Slovenia and Serbia have all clinched spots in the 16-team knockout round that begins Saturday.
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Nikola Jokic had himself a night at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a>. 🃏👀 29 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST<a href="https://t.co/yqgLLMI2AS">pic.twitter.com/yqgLLMI2AS</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567261660729032706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s point total was the most in a EuroBasket game since Dirk Nowitzki had 43 for Germany in 2001. And when he heard that stat, all Antetokounmpo did was nod.
&ldquo;I try not to rate my performance,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;I just try to go out there and have fun as much as possible, try to focus as much as I can on what I can control, try to bring energy any way possible. ... But I&rsquo;ll say this: I think this is one of the years where I feel very, very excited to go out there on the court and play with my teammates.&rdquo;
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Giannis went OFF today in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a>. 41 PTS 9 REB 72% FGM On fire. 🔥<a href="https://t.co/XRF620yKBK">pic.twitter.com/XRF620yKBK</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567208097826963458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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As Antetokounmpo did, Doncic also deflected credit after the game. Told that Germany&rsquo;s postgame reaction was &ldquo;Luka Doncic happened,&rdquo; Doncic replied by saying &ldquo;Slovenia happened.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The whole team was ready,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;Everybody who stepped on the court was fighting, whether they played one minute or 30. I&rsquo;m really proud of this team.&rdquo;
Doncic was asked after the game if he or Antetokounmpo was in a better position to break the EuroBasket single-game scoring record.
Doncic didn&rsquo;t hesitate with his answer: He picked Antetokounmpo.
&ldquo;I would bet on Giannis,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;Why? Because he&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo.&rdquo;
GROUP C
GREECE 99, UKRAINE 79
At Milan, Antetokounmpo simply overpowered Ukraine and ensured that Greece would finish atop its group.
Antetokounmpo &mdash; who got Monday off to rest &mdash; had his 41 points and nine rebounds in just 27 minutes to lead Greece (4-0).
He was 13 for 18 from the floor, 15 for 18 from the foul line.
&ldquo;It was very easy to prepare the team because it is absolutely clear what Greece does when Giannis is out there,&rdquo; Ukraine coach Ainars Bagatskis said. &ldquo;They play really aggressive basketball. And if you don&rsquo;t put against them the same aggressiveness, even higher aggressiveness, then you have big problems.&rdquo;
Nick Calathes and Tyler Dorsey had 13 apiece for Greece.
Issuf Sanon and Svi Mykhailiuk each scored 16 for Ukraine (3-1), while Alex Len and Illya Sydorov added 10 apiece. Ukraine led by seven at the half, before Greece won the third quarter 32-11.
ESTONIA 94, GREAT BRITAIN 62
Henri Drell scored 20 points, Siim-Sander Vene added 18 and Estonia had no trouble on the way to its first win of the tournament.
Maik-Kalev Kotsar scored 15, Kristjan Kitsing added 14 and Janari Joesaar finished with 11 for Estonia (1-3).
Myles Hesson scored 14 for Great Britain (0-4), with Carl Wheatie and Patrick Whelan each scoring 12.
ITALY 81, CROATIA 76
Simone Fontecchio and Nicolo Melli each scored 19 points to lead Italy (2-2).
Bojan Bogdanovic led Croatia (2-2) with 27 points, while Ivica Zubac scored 13 and Dario Saric added 10.
Both teams are headed to the knockout round.
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GROUP B
SLOVENIA 88, GERMANY 80
At Cologne, Germany, Doncic&rsquo;s 36 points came with him making 14 of 25 shots. He also had 10 rebounds for Slovenia (3-1).
Goran Dragic scored 18 points and Mike Tobey added 10 for Slovenia.
&ldquo;We showed what we are made of,&rdquo; Dragic said.
Dennis Schroder scored 19 points, Andreas Obst had 14 and Maodo Lo added 13 for Germany (3-1).
LITHUANIA 87, HUNGARY 64
Lithuanian basketball is known for a lot of things, including passionate fans.
They go everywhere to cheer for their national team. And Tuesday, they even cheered for France &mdash; for good reason.
Lithuania topped Hungary and that, combined with France&rsquo;s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, means the last qualifying spot out of Group B is still unclaimed. It&rsquo;ll be decided Wednesday when Lithuania plays Bosnia and Herzegovina, the winner moving on to Berlin and a round-of-16 game, the loser heading home eliminated.
&ldquo;Lithuanian fans are the best,&rdquo; France guard Evan Fournier said.
If France had lost Tuesday, Lithuania would have been eliminated. Instead, those Lithuanian fans serenaded the French with cries of &ldquo;Merci!&rdquo; for keeping their national team&rsquo;s hopes alive.
&ldquo;It feels amazing,&rdquo; Lithuania forward Domatas Sabonis said. &ldquo;They travel to every championship to support us. It&rsquo;s sad we couldn&rsquo;t give them a win over the weekend, but we&rsquo;re glad we could give them one today and the goal is to give them another one tomorrow.&rdquo;
Jonas Valanciunas scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting and Sabonis added 19 for Lithuania (1-3).
Marius Grigonis had 15 points and Rokas Jokubaitis added 10 for Lithuania. Zoltan Perl scored 16 for Hungary (0-4), while David Vojvoda and Rosco Allen each finished with 10.
FRANCE 81, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 68
Thomas Heurtel&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 5:49 left put France ahead to stay and started a game-ending 22-7 run for the winners, who were already assured of a spot in the round of 16.
Guerschon Yabusele scored 15 for France (3-1), while Heurtel and Fournier each had 14 and Rudy Gobert posted an 11-point, 12-rebound performance.
Jusuf Nurkic, Miralem Halilovic and Dzanan Musa all had 14 for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), while John Roberson had 13 and Edin Atic finished with 10.
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GROUP A
TURKEY 78, BELGIUM 63
At Tbilisi, Georgia, Alperen Sengun scored 24 points, Furkan Korkmaz had 16 and Turkey (3-1) remained tied atop Group A.
Ercan Osmani added 12 for Turkey.
Haris Bratanovic scored 15 for Belgium (2-2) and Hans Vanwijn scored 11.
SPAIN 82, MONTENEGRO 65
Spain (3-1) clinched its berth in the round of 16, with Dario Brizuela leading the way with 18 points.
Willy Hernangomez scored 14 for Spain, while Jaime Pradilla and Lorenzo Brown added 12 apiece.
Vladimir Mihailovic scored 18 for Montenegro (2-2), which got 11 from Marko Simonovic and 10 from Kendrick Perry.
BULGARIA 92, GEORGIA 80
Dee Bost had 33 points and 12 assists, Aleksandar Vezenkov finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds, and Bulgaria kept its hopes alive.
Pavlin Ivanov scored 17 for Bulgaria (1-3).
Goga Bitadze scored 21 for Georgia (1-3), while Thaddus McFadden had 19, Alexander Mamukelashvili scored 13, and Giorgi Shermadini and Duda Sanadze scored 10 apiece.
GROUP D
SERBIA 89, ISRAEL 78
At Prague, Jokic was 11 of 13 from the floor and also grabbed 11 rebounds for Serbia (4-0), while Vasilije Micic added 19.
Nikola Kalinic and Ognjen Jaramaz each scored 10 for Serbia.
Yam Madar scored 20 for Israel (2-2), while Deni Avdija had 14 and Roman Sorkin added 11.
POLAND 75, NETHERLANDS 69
Poland was down by 13 in the third quarter before closing the game on a 39-20 run to tune up for its knockout-stage appearance.
Michal Sokolowski scored 24 for Poland (3-1), which got 16 from Aleksander Balcerowski and 10 from Jakub Garbacz.
Charlon Kloof led the Netherlands (0-4) with 26, and Yannick Franke scored 13.
FINLAND 98, CZECH REPUBLIC 88
Lauri Markkanen continued his strong tournament with 34 points and 10 rebounds, and Finland clinched its berth in the round of 16.
Sasu Salin scored 23 and Petteri Koponen added 14 for Finland, with Elias Valtonen finishing with 11.
Vojtech Hruban scored 22 for the Czech Republic, with Jan Vesely adding 15 and Patrik Auda and Jaromir Bohacik scoring 13 apiece. The Czechs play Israel on Thursday and, according to FIBA, could reach the knockout stage with a win.
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WEDNESDAY&rsquo;S SCHEDULE
First-round play in Groups A and B concludes, with Groups C and D getting the day off before they finish their round-robins on Thursday. Friday is an off day and the knockout round in Berlin starts Saturday.
Group A: Turkey (3-1) vs. Spain (3-1), Bulgaria (1-3) vs. Belgium (2-2), Georgia (1-3) vs. Montenegro (2-2). The Turkey-Spain winner will win the group. Bulgaria and Georgia are in must-win scenarios.
Group B: Lithuania (1-3) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), France (3-1) vs. Slovenia (3-1), Hungary (0-4) vs. Germany (3-1). France, Slovenia (which wins the group with a victory) and Germany have already qualified, Hungary is eliminated and the Lithuania-Bosnia game is the one that matters most.

Antetokounmpo scored 41 points in 27 minutes for Greece, Doncic had 36 points for Slovenia and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic scored 29 points for Serbia.

Jarrett Allen, Josh Green, Cam Johnson and Coby White will coach over 60 of the top high-school age girls and boys from 15+ nations.

4 NBA players to coach at Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp in Australia

Welcome to Basketball News' 10-part mini-series, Blazing the Trail, where Mat Issa breaks down the most revolutionary players of the 1990s and 2000s. Throughout this series, we'll examine how these players changed basketball and pioneered their respective skills. 
In this second installment, Mat goes in-depth on two-time All-Star power forward Rashard Lewis and his lasting impact as a stretch 4 with insight from Bob Beyer and Ahmad Ajami, two former Orlando Magic assistants who worked closely with Lewis. 
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Like many things in basketball, the concept of the "stretch 4" was not invented in the 2000s.&nbsp;
However, before the turn of the century, the archetype was almost exclusively viewed as a matchup-based tool. Using a baseball analogy, it was like having a lefty reliever in the bullpen reserved for specific circumstances rather than an ace at the head of your rotation.
But that all changed when a combination of untimely injuries and coaching ingenuity led to Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy starting Rashard Lewis at the power forward position. Lewis became a true All-Star while playing the stretch 4 and helped influence this revolution.
What Made Lewis Special&nbsp;
Like his stretch-4 predecessors, Lewis was lethal from the perimeter. In the 2008-09 season, he shot nearly 40% from downtown while leading the NBA in total three-point makes and attempts.
Despite his prowess, Lewis was far more than just a stationary sniper. During his formative years, he underwent what I call "the Anthony Davis growth trajectory" &mdash; a phenomenon where a basketball player grows up playing as a guard, hits an unforeseen massive growth spurt and then matures into a big with guard skills. And, because that happened, Lewis was able to combine a 6-foot-10 stature with his bucket-getting chops, which earned him the moniker: &ldquo;Sweet Lew.&rdquo;
Sweet Lew quickly became a defense's worst nightmare.&nbsp;
&ldquo;At that time, length and athleticism at the 4 wasn&rsquo;t as prevalent as it is now,&rdquo; said Ahmad Ajami, a former Magic assistant coach under Van Gundy for five seasons between 2007 and 2012.
&ldquo;He could play both inside and out,&rdquo; Van Gundy&rsquo;s longtime right-hand man Bob Beyer stated about Lewis.
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Too big for smalls, too fast for bigs. This was a recurring storyline throughout Lewis&rsquo; career.&nbsp;
That narrative reached its climax during Orlando&rsquo;s iconic 2009 Eastern Conference Finals bout with the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. During that series, Lewis burned slow-footed big men Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varej&atilde;o with his superior quickness, and alpha'd the smaller Delonte West by elegantly lofting jumpers over top of him.
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&ldquo;The guy who probably [doesn&rsquo;t get] the credit that he deserves is Rashard... It [all] goes back to Rashard,&rdquo; Beyer recalled when describing Orlando&rsquo;s success against Cleveland. &ldquo;Rashard could exploit their two bigs out there.&rdquo;
In the six-game series, Lewis eviscerated Cleveland, averaging 18.3 points on 64.0% True Shooting, all while hitting some <a href="https://youtu.be/KXy51IiFwlU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">critical</a> shots en route to Orlando&rsquo;s only title appearance of the aughts.
On-Court Production&nbsp;
Throughout his career, Lewis&rsquo; impact derived primarily from his value as a scorer and spacer. During his All-Star campaign in 2008-09, he was second on the Magic in both scoring volume and efficiency (among players who played at least 50 games). He also ranked in the 93rd percentile in spacing league-wide, according to BackPicks.com.
The impact metrics available at the time seem to agree with his nomination, painting Lewis as a <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1552312398425505799?s=20&amp;t=NTXuTyPlBNy_vSgSTYRC4Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fringe All-Star contributor</a>.
However, what he accomplished by working in unison with Magic frontcourt mates Dwight Howard and Hedo T&uuml;rkoğlu was much more important than his individual success. In isolation, each member of the trio was a solid offensive player. But in the aggregate, the three coalesced to form a multi-faceted machine.&nbsp;
On the surface, this particular Magic team greatly resembled the infrastructure of the two-time world-champion Houston Rockets from the 1990s. Under the guidance of Rudy Tomjanovich, those Rockets deployed a progressive 4-out, 1-in offensive scheme with the legendary Hakeem Olajuwon flanked by four shooters on the perimeter.
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However, those Houston teams were founded on Olajuwon&rsquo;s reputation in the post that allowed him to regularly commandeer the attention of a second defender (<a href="https://streamable.com/g76o6v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like this</a>). Meanwhile, Howard was more of a play-finisher than a pure isolationist on the low block.
&ldquo;Dwight could really excel when he was on the move. He was a good runner in transition. He was a good roller in pick-and-rolls,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;Runner, roller and the other thing &mdash; we would get a lot of spin-out lobs.&rdquo;
Pair Howard's finishing with T&uuml;rkoğlu&rsquo;s size, ball-handling and pull-up shooting, and add Lewis&rsquo; expansive scoring repertoire, and you had a recipe for offensive brilliance.
The Magic (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like the D&rsquo;Antoni-led Suns</a>) were a pick-and-roll-centric team, with their pet play being a three-man action involving their frontcourt triumvirate.
Beyer said that Orlando called it a &ldquo;Thumb Down Spread,&rdquo; basically a middle pick-and-roll featuring T&uuml;rkoğlu as the ball-handler and Howard as the screener, with Lewis lurking one pass away.
Here&rsquo;s a demonstration of the play in theory and in practice (with a <a href="https://medium.com/the-basketball-dictionary/roll-replace-a8ff659fb5d9#:~:text=Definition%3A%20A%20pick%2Dand%2D,the%20paint%20to%20the%20perimeter." target="_blank" rel="noopener">roll-and-replace</a> wrinkle from Lewis):
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Visual diagram presented by Luceo Sports
&ldquo;That was our go-to play,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;It forced the defense to protect the basket... because Dwight [was] such a dynamic roller. If you consistently dropped your big back to take the roll away, Hedo was more than capable of making that three-point shot or pull-up two. We would run the roll-and-replace action where we would come and lift Rashard up, and then, there&rsquo;s another deadly three-point shooter.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re talking about scoring options at all three of those positions on the floor."
(Beyer also mentioned another variation of the play that utilized Lewis as the screener called the &ldquo;Thumb Up Spread,&rdquo; <a href="https://streamable.com/vqacfu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">literally signaled by a thumb up</a>.)
Typically, the major drawback that comes with playing these offensively-slanted lineups comes at the defensive end, as more offense usually means less defense. But this iteration of the Magic defied the laws of statistics, touting the No. 1 defense in the NBA in 2009.
The keystone to this formidable front was, of course, Howard.
&ldquo;[You&rsquo;d] be hard-pressed to find a rim-protector and [overall] defender &mdash; on-ball and off-ball &mdash; like Dwight,&rdquo; Ajami stated.
And despite his slender frame causing some issues against "classical" power forwards (see: 2009 Finals), Lewis compensated for his deficiencies by leveraging his great length and sound hands (87th percentile steal rate in 2009, per Cleaning the Glass) to create chaos on and off the ball.
&ldquo;Both Rashard and Hedo T&uuml;rkoğlu were so long,&rdquo; Beyer said. &ldquo;They were very intelligent [and used] their length to defend guys. They were active with their hands. Their closeouts were appropriate &mdash; based on who they were guarding. And, if they were to get beat, they still had confidence that the next play could be made by Dwight to clean it up.&rdquo;
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While some view their magical run as an anomaly, the threesome operated at the level of a true contender. According to PBP stats, in the 1,268 minutes Lewis, Howard and T&uuml;rkoğlu shared in 2008-09, the Magic posted a Net Rating of plus-12.68 (the equivalent of a 71-win pace in an 82-game season).&nbsp;
For reference, that is a higher <a href="http://www.pbpstats.com/lineup-subunits/nba?LineupId=200782-201572-201950-203114-203507&amp;TeamId=1610612749&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;SubUnitSize=3">NET</a> number than what the trio of Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo posted during their championship season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
&ldquo;Nobody would have ever guessed that we would have been as successful as we were,&rdquo; Ajami smiled. &ldquo;But we were right there.
&ldquo;That group of guys was extremely special.&rdquo;
Weaving the Thread &nbsp; In a <a href="https://theathletic.com/1504385/2020/01/07/orlando-magic-forgotten-3-point-innovators/">feature article</a> from 2020, The Athletic's Josh Robbins credited two factors for Van Gundy&rsquo;s decision to start Lewis at the 4: &ldquo;Necessity and smart thinking.&rdquo;&nbsp;
For some context, the Magic initially planned to start traditional power forward Tony Battie. But when he was ruled out for the entirety of the 2007-08 campaign, Van Gundy decided to experiment with Lewis playing the stretch 4 full-time.
However, dig into the weeds a little further, and one could posit that this innovation was more than happenstance, and that Van Gundy and Lewis had seen this before.
In 2008-09, Orlando&rsquo;s three-point attempt rate (3PAr) had a frequency 11.1% higher than the league average. Let&rsquo;s look at teams that posted a similar relative 3PAr that came before them:
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An interesting cast of characters indeed (man, Pitino's teams loved to let it fly).
Now, let&rsquo;s narrow our focus to three specific instances:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/focus-chart.jpg" alt="" width="585" height="438" />
First are the 1996-97 Miami Heat, led by "The Godfather" Pat Riley. Who was his lead assistant during that time? None other than Stanley Alan Van Gundy.
Secondly, the 2003-04 Seattle SuperSonics. Before he landed in Orlando, Lewis had some practice slotting in at power forward under Sonics head coach Nate McMillan &mdash; spending 20% of his minutes that season at the 4 spot, per Basketball-Reference. Although, it is worth noting that Vladimir Radmanović was Seattle's primary stretch 4 (playing 80% of his minutes at power forward).
And lastly, the 2006-07 Houston Rockets. It was the last pit stop for the legendary Jeff Van Gundy, Stan&rsquo;s younger brother. Also featured on that team was Tracy McGrady &mdash; a player whom Lewis has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc1snSMtaSU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicly acknowledged he studied and modeled his game after</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I would specify it that cleanly," Beyer said with a chuckle. "But I do know this: I know how much Stan values shooting, and I know how much Stan is always trying to come up with lineups where the best players are on the floor together. So, your theory makes a lot of sense to me.&rdquo;
The point is that, whether it was an intentional decision, a freak coincidence, or a case of cryptomnesia, you can see that past experiences in Lewis and Van Gundy&rsquo;s professional lives had them trending in this direction the entire time. And together, they made sweet music.
Impact on Today&rsquo;s Game
Unlike Steve Nash, finding direct descendants for Lewis is more of an arduous endeavor because, nowadays, seemingly everyone employs a stretch 4 to some degree. In this past season alone, 15 players listed as power forwards on Basketball-Reference surpassed 4.4 three-point attempts per game (Lewis&rsquo; career average).
Ajami stated that, because of the absence of positional constructs in modern-day basketball, he only thinks about positions as who you guard on defense.
&ldquo;Basketball has almost become positionless,&rdquo; Ajami said. &ldquo;To me, you playing the 4 or 5 really just means who on the other team you're defending because, for us, our 4 and our 5... have got to be able to do the same things we ask our 2 and our 3 to do.&rdquo;
With that said, more direct comparisons still exist.
In 2020-21, the Utah Jazz led the league with a relative 3PAr of plus-9.6. One could find a lot of parallels between their frontcourt of Joe Ingles, Bojan Bogdanović and Rudy Gobert and the one the Magic rode to the NBA Finals. (Bogdanović plays the role of Lewis in this analogy.)
Coming into the 2018 NBA Draft, <a href="https://theathletic.com/266715/2018/03/09/potential-knicks-lottery-pick-profile-michael-porter-jr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some scouts</a> viewed Michael Porter Jr. as a new-age version of Lewis. And when his back was right, Michael Malone would frequently run jumbo frontcourt lineups featuring MPJ, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic. (Coincidentally, Malone&rsquo;s father Brendan was an assistant coach on those Magic teams).
You can even see some influence from the Magic on this current iteration of the Cavaliers &mdash; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/in-the-nba-length-matters-unedited" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three seven-footers in the frontcourt</a> with Lauri Markkanen operating as their de facto Lewis.
Ironically enough, Lewis&rsquo; legacy has made his offensive archetype less unique than it was when he was playing (something we will see a lot in this series). None of the heirs to Lewis we listed have achieved All-Star status because the stretch 4 has become a staple feature on every team.
Nonetheless, Lewis and those Magic teams pushed the limits of what was once thought possible for the position &mdash; the hallmark feature of any basketball pioneer.
And for his overarching impact on the game, Lewis deserves his respect, his All-Star nominations and, most of all, his own chapter in the history of the NBA.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/lewis-genealogy-chart.jpg" alt="" width="495" height="495" />
Tune in next week for Part III of Blazing the Trail, which focuses on Shane Battier &mdash; the data-ball defender.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-blazing-the-trail-steve-nash-phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-raja-bell-steph-curry-all-time-great-point-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to read Part I: "Steve Nash, the magician who danced in the paint."</a>

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa focuses on two-time All-Star Rashard Lewis and his lasting impact as a stretch 4.

Blazing the Trail: Rashard Lewis, the All-Star stretch 4

It&rsquo;s impossible to watch the NBA Playoffs and not be impressed with the talent level of the league&rsquo;s stars.
Chris Paul and Steph Curry have been doing it for a minute, but in recent years, we&rsquo;ve gotten to see some newer faces on the playoff stage show that they&rsquo;re not afraid of the big moments... Guys like Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Ja Morant and now, even Anthony Edwards.
But the more I watch those guys, the more I have to respect the guys whose job it is to stop them. It might be clich&eacute;, but defense really does win championships. At this point, there&rsquo;s only eight teams left in the playoffs, and it&rsquo;s no coincidence that guys like Matisse Thybulle, Draymond Green, Mikal Bridges and Bam Adebayo are still alive.
There can only be one Defensive Player of the Year, though, and this year, he happens to play in Boston.
Marcus Smart sure is deserving.
I obviously have a little bit of a soft spot for the Celtics, but over the years, as I&rsquo;ve watched Marcus, I always felt like he was exactly the kind of player I would want on my team. He has skills on both sides of the ball, but defensively, he&rsquo;s not willing to give even one inch to his opponent, and that&rsquo;s exactly why he&rsquo;s become such a favorite in Boston.
The very first conversation I had with Gary Payton once we became teammates in Miami, GP complimented me because, according to him, I wasn&rsquo;t afraid to get up in another dude&rsquo;s face. To be honest, I was a little surprised that he even knew who I was, but he always told me that real recognize real, and today, that comment has newfound meaning to me.
When I look back at my career, I give thanks for all that I was able to accomplish and for the fact that I was able to win at the highest level. It&rsquo;s hard for me to look back on it and say I have any regrets, but I can&rsquo;t lie... As someone who was regarded as a great 3-and D guy, it would have been nice to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award. If you&rsquo;re someone who takes pride in your ability to lock other guys up, that&rsquo;s sort of the pinnacle of the profession.
Even though we were only together in Miami for a short time, I learned a lot about defensive principles and technique from GP, and we took a special pride in defending our opponents and making things difficult for them.
So for me, it all comes full circle in a way; Marcus became the first guard since GP to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Gary Payton pulled up to surprise Marcus Smart winning DPOY 👏 <a href="https://t.co/FrGtxLWEsR">pic.twitter.com/FrGtxLWEsR</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1516195034361577472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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GP was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 1995-96 season. Since then, of the next 25 seasons the award was given out, it went to a center 19 times. The other six times, the award was won equally by small forwards and power forwards.
The fact that almost 30 years went by before a backcourt player won the award again is crazy. If anything, the award should go to guards more often than anyone else.
What we have seen over history is that, for the most part, centers get the credit for anchoring a team&rsquo;s defense. And in most cases, they do deserve the credit, because being the last line of defense is a huge responsibility. But centers usually have a size advantage and play closer to the rim. In many instances, their primary responsibilities are to block or change shots, and rebound, but they usually have more of an opportunity to make plays on the ball and attract attention since they usually play at the rim.
Having a good anchor is obviously an important part of any championship-level defense, but not even guys like Rudy Gobert or Dikembe Mutombo can patch every hole in bad defense.
When you have a five-man unit on the floor, they are really only as strong as the weakest link, and if the backcourt can&rsquo;t defend, the team is toast.
Think about it. In most cases, unless you&rsquo;re playing a triangle offense or something like that, an offensive attack begins with a point guard. If he&rsquo;s easily able to beat his man off the dribble, it compromises the entire defense. When it comes to playing straight up, man-to-man defense, guards have to be top notch in order to not be a liability for their team.
Today, the game is so spaced out; it&rsquo;s definitely become more difficult for centers, but perimeter players have to guard pick-and-rolls, chase over screens, keep assignments in front, contain the dribble in front of them and just overall have more of a responsibility.
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In the league today, things are that much tougher because pretty much every team plays pick-and-roll basketball. So again, the perimeter defenders not only have to play good on-ball defense, but they also have to know when to switch and know how to read coverages in certain situations. They have to close-out on shooters, recover and know their rotations. The job was hard when GP was doing it back in the 1990s, and it&rsquo;s only gotten more difficult in recent years.
To be honest, it feels a little weird arguing this point, because Draymond Green and OG Anunoby are two of my favorite guys to watch on the defensive end. I respect the hell out of Gobert and Adebayo, and I think that Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen are some of the best defenders ever. None of those guys are backcourt players. What they do have in common, though, is their versatility. And that&rsquo;s what made Marcus Smart deserving of winning the award this year.
Maybe the solution is for the league to separate the Defensive Players of the Year, and to give out the award to the best backcourt defender and the best frontcourt defender. That would probably take a little of the prestige away from the honor, but the truth of the matter is that bigs and guards have very different responsibilities to a team&rsquo;s defense &mdash; it&rsquo;s just really hard to compare those contributions directly.
But this year, at least, it&rsquo;s nice to see that Marcus ended the drought. It&rsquo;s been a long time coming. It&rsquo;s not every day that you find a guard who not only accepts every challenge that comes his way, but also exceling at it. Smart can effectively guard all five positions, which is not something you see every day.
With the Bucks standing between them and a chance to get to the conference finals, Boston has its work cut out for it in the Eastern semis. Giannis and the Bucks are trying to go back-to-back.
But one thing for sure, is that Boston is going to fight, and I know that Marcus Smart is going to be battling every possession he&rsquo;s out there. And even if he&rsquo;s not 100%, his fingerprints are going to be all over the game.
He deserves more than just credit for that. He deserves to be the Defensive Player of the Year, and honestly, it&rsquo;s long overdue.
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James Posey offers praise for Marcus Smart's tenaciousness and shares his thoughts on the DPOY award moving forward.

Guards like Marcus Smart should always be Defensive Player of the Year

This is why playoff depth matters.
We have a generally simplistic view of what makes a champion. In the NBA, people think that you need multiple stars, with one superstar as the head of the snake, in order to get into the dance. But in the annals of league history, champions haven&rsquo;t only been littered by the Michael Jordans or LeBron James&rsquo; of the world, because even they needed awesome role players and deep rosters to accompany them.
Hell, the 72-win Chicago Bulls in 1995-96 had a 1-through-7 (in terms of minutes per game in the playoffs) of Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Luc Longley, Toni Kukoč, Ron Harper and Steve Kerr &mdash; all of whom logged at least 20 minutes per game in the postseason.
Think about this: We just saw the Brooklyn Nets &mdash; among the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-202122-nets-are-arguably-the-most-disappointing-team-in-nba-history-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">betting favorites to win the title all-season long</a> &mdash; get <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-offseason-preview-2022-whats-next-for-the-brooklyn-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swept in the first round</a> after playing themselves to the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, despite being led by a 1-2 punch of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Why were the Nets favorites all season long? Starrrrr powerrrrr.
Why did they fall flat? A combination of things: A lack of team chemistry, lack of depth, lack of culture, lack of defense, lack of size, lack of versatility and lack of great coaching. Many thought we were just supposed to overlook that because Brooklyn was top-heavy. Granted, the Boston Celtics could end up winning the East, but honestly, the Nets were never who many (of y&rsquo;all) thought they were.
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So why does depth matter in the postseason as rotations shorten? Because rotations don&rsquo;t need to shorten if you have enough depth to carry you along.
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra <a href="https://youtu.be/qGXIQBcZdM8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted this</a> following the team's 97-94 win over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5, ending the series 4-1 and outscoring Atlanta by 60 points overall across those five games.
&ldquo;Everybody that played had their fingerprints on this,&rdquo; Spoelstra <a href="https://youtu.be/qGXIQBcZdM8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &ldquo;We clearly had some adversity in this game not having Kyle [Lowry] or Jimmy [Butler], and our group doesn&rsquo;t even blink. It&rsquo;s not even something we have to address. We just pivot, put in the game plan, and everybody just gets ready, tapes their ankles and gets out there and competes.&rdquo;
In the Heat's case, Lowry was out with a hamstring injury, and Butler didn&rsquo;t play in Game 5 on Tuesday night because of right knee inflammation. So who started? Victor Oladipo, who didn&rsquo;t play in Games 1-3 and primarily played in Game 4 because the offense had trouble getting going without Lowry. Vic started in place of Butler &mdash; alongside Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, PJ Tucker and Bam Adebayo &mdash; to close out the Hawks in a gentleman&rsquo;s sweep.
&ldquo;A year ago today, I was waiting for my next surgery,&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/bytimreynolds/status/1519147785546784769?s=21&amp;t=_ZTSKfrbgGYEt-IpNWqubg">stated Oladipo</a>, who poured in 23 points, scoring at least 20 in the postseason for the first time since Aug. 24, 2020. &ldquo;I was sitting in a dark room by myself and just broke down, not because I quit, but because I was at the lowest point I could be at. Now, God has put me in this position today. I made the most of it.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"I've overcome a lot, so whatever happens next, I'll be ready for it." Victor Oladipo speaks about his special night in the Heat' game-clinching win. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HEATCulture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HEATCulture</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhiteHot?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhiteHot</a> ⚪🔥 <a href="https://t.co/e5Df9caL1s">pic.twitter.com/e5Df9caL1s</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallyHEAT/status/1519153057724088322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Only Butler and Adebayo are averaging over 30 minutes per game this postseason for the Heat, and now 11 guys have seen real rotation minutes across multiple games.
And no other team has someone who can come in out of nowhere, start and do what Oladipo did Tuesday night: 23 points, 3 assists and 3 steals on 6 of 12 shooting (3 of 6 from three) and 4 of 4 on free throws to go along with a 121 Offensive Rating, 9.2 Box Plus-Minus and preventive defense.
Oladipo, <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/advanced/?sort=NET_RATING&amp;dir=-1">per NBA.com&rsquo;s advanced stats</a>, has put together a plus-29.7 Net Rating in the two playoff games he&rsquo;s logged minutes in.
&ldquo;Again, I&rsquo;m still improving,&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/tropicalblanket/status/1519148825931403265" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said</a>. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t played enough basketball to be super comfortable yet but I&rsquo;m getting there... I have no doubt I can surpass that level I was at. Even better days than that to come. This is part of the journey of getting there.&rdquo;
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Specifically on his progress, Spoelstra spoke of his adulation for Oladipo.
&ldquo;I really admire him, I do," Spoelstra said. "For this journey, really, for the last three seasons, where he&rsquo;s been dealing with injuries and frustration, and then really working to make himself available for us without a guarantee to play. And then just giving to the team. That&rsquo;s why everybody roots for him, and he always comes in with a smile on his face, and lifts people up, and that&rsquo;s even when he was going through DNP&rsquo;s. But he worked, he prepared, and it&rsquo;s true, crazy things happen, and there&rsquo;s a karma to it.
"If you do the right things and stay patient, it might not be on your terms or your timeline, but then, when your opportunity is there, you&rsquo;re able to take advantage of it, and then you have everybody enjoying his success.&rdquo;
And, to those who bought into that Sk*p B*yless &ldquo;report&rdquo; about friction between Butler and Oladipo, Vic <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyHawk305/status/1519148969108152327" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged that</a>: &ldquo;Jimmy helped me tremendously in the fourth quarter.&rdquo;
Oladipo, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/victor-oladipo-is-coming-heres-how-he-could-help-raise-miamis-ceiling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as was written two months ago</a>, raises this team&rsquo;s ceiling. If Duncan Robinson isn&rsquo;t hitting threes, Oladipo can create dribble penetration for others to get open looks. If Caleb Martin is making too many defensive mistakes, Oladipo&rsquo;s there to be another versatile stopper who can keep up at the point of attack. And if the overall offense lacks a scoring punch, Oladipo&rsquo;s there to provide another threat &mdash; one who specializes in nothing, but can be effective in everything.
The Lowry-Oladipo-Butler-Tucker-Adebayo &ldquo;death&rdquo; lineup is coming at some point, and if Tyler Herro doesn&rsquo;t get it going soon, it&rsquo;s one that may finish playoff games more often than we think, assuming Oladipo has earned consistent minutes going forward.
I would never tell Spo how to coach, but in the right spots, more Oladipo the rest of this run seems helpful for a team with title aspirations.
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Bryan Fonseca writes on the importance of depth in the postseason and how Victor Oladipo's big Game 5 was a perfect example of it.

Victor Oladipo has re-entered the chat in Miami

One by one the names of the NBA's greatest players were called, bridging basketball's past and present.
And as each walked onto the floor, LeBron James found himself in further disbelief.
The posters on his bedroom wall as a kid came to life.
&ldquo;Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson,&rdquo; James said, still trying to grasp the experience. &ldquo;To see those guys today and then be on stage with those guys &mdash; it&rsquo;s just crazy.&rdquo;
On Sunday night, the league celebrated its diamond anniversary with a sparkling tribute to honor 75 years on the hardwood floor.
During a moving halftime tribute at Sunday's All-Star Game, 45 members of the 75th Anniversary Team &mdash; including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James &mdash; stood elbow to elbow on a giant circular stage in the middle of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
This was a chance for the game's greatest to take a bow and be saluted for cutting the path for today's players.
For James, who made a fadeaway jumper &mdash; the kind Jordan made famous -- to send Team LeBron to a 163-160 win over Team Durant, the chance to be around players he idolized, was overwhelming.
&ldquo;Every time they would announce another name, I didn&rsquo;t even get an opportunity to like rejoice in the player that they had named,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was, like, Gary Payton. I was, like, wow.! Then J Kidd showed up, and then A.I. (Allen Iverson) showed up, and then it was D. Wade, C.P. (Chris Paul), and Steph (Curry). I was just tripped out.&rdquo;
James wasn't the only one.
Each wearing blue blazers with a 75th logo on their chests, the best of the NBA's best were introduced to huge ovations, with the loudest cheers going to Jordan, the last player to walk onto the raised podium at center court.
The forwards were brought out first with Charles Barkley leading the way. Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of six current All-Stars on the 75th team, changed out of his Team LeBron uniform for the on-court tribute.
During the TV broadcast, Barkley said being amongst the NBA&rsquo;s elite hit him harder than he expected. Antetokounmpo, one of the two Europeans on the squad, also was awed by being part of the ceremony.
&ldquo;When you start playing basketball when you are young, you never imagine to be next to all these all-time greats,&rdquo; said Milwaukee's star. "Your name being called, going out there to shake their hands and just stand next to them, interact with them, it was amazing.
&ldquo;I kind of teared up on stage because I&rsquo;m not supposed to be here, man. Being among those guys is &mdash; man, it&rsquo;s crazy.&rdquo;
Julius &ldquo;Dr. J&rdquo; Erving bowed to the sellout crowd, and the always entertaining Dennis Rodman strutted down the wine-colored carpet wearing a basketball cap and hooded sweatshirt under his jacket.
James was the last of the forward group to be welcomed, and the former Cleveland star spun in a circle to return the love coming from every corner of the arena. This was his homecoming weekend, and it coinciding with the 75th anniversary made it even more special.
Once James took his spot on the star-studded stage, he tried to soak in the moment.
&ldquo;It would be like going to your favorite musician&rsquo;s concert in the greatest stadium, and you are literally on stage with them while they&rsquo;re performing, and the sense of &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe that I&rsquo;m here,'&rdquo; he said. That&rsquo;s the best way that I can put it.&rdquo;
"I can&rsquo;t believe I&rsquo;m sitting next to Bruce Springsteen while he is playing in a stadium in London with 160,000 people. Or I&rsquo;m in the Garden with Jay-Z. I&rsquo;m sitting here with Whitney Houston on stage in a coliseum with 90,000 people.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s kind of what it felt like for me. I just couldn&rsquo;t believe it.&rdquo;
When it was the centers' turn to be welcomed, Shaquille O'Neal stuck out his tongue toward the camera and posed while Abdul-Jabbar, the league's career scoring leader, mimicked his signature &ldquo;sky hook&rdquo; before the 74-year-old took a seat at the stage's edge.
Iverson, who once scored 54 points in the building, led the guards out and was followed soon after by George &ldquo;Iceman&rdquo; Gervin, who made sure the crowd remembered his famed finger roll.
Before Jordan's entrance, Kobe Bryant's photo on the giant scoreboard touched off an emotional response and chants of &ldquo;Ko-be, Ko-be&rdquo; for the late Lakers superstar who died tragically in a 2020 helicopter crash with his young daughter, Gianna.
Even Curry, who got booed by Cleveland's crowd before scoring 50 points and winning MVP honors, got a nice hand.
Jordan's appearance was something of a surprise as the league kept a tight lid on any details of the celebration.
Following the game, James made sure to reconnect with Jordan, who inspired the young kid from Akron to chase greatness.
&ldquo;The way he wore his shoes, the way he wore his uniform, I mean, all the way down to some of the cars that he drove,&rdquo; James said.
The still living members of the 75th team who didn't attend were shown on video, with each saluting the fans with a wave.
This is the second time the league has honored its greats in Cleveland, after the 50th Anniversary Team was honored in 1997.

On Sunday night, the league celebrated its diamond anniversary with a sparkling tribute to honor 75 years on the hardwood floor.

NBA honors past, present with 75th tribute at All-Star Game

Dwight Howard, Bam Adebayo, DeAndre Jordan. When the chiseled 6-foot-10 Jalen Duren comes crashing down on dunks, these are some of the names that are evoked in scouts' minds. Duren, a former 5-star recruit and current freshman at Memphis, has been a consistently positive force for the Tigers in a season that's been full of ups and downs. His immense physical tools and stand-out athleticism have had him on the prospect radar since he was a freshman in high school. Thus far, Duren has not disappointed, as he's been high on the big boards of scouts, teams and draft analysts alike.&nbsp;
From Delaware to Florida
Duren, a native of Delaware, began both his AAU and high school career with Pennsylvania roots. Duren played up with Team Final (PA) as a middle schooler. He competed with their 15-and-under team &mdash; showing no problem thriving in a league two age groups up, as he is such an overwhelming physical force. During his middle school run with Team Final, Duren blew up on the national radar, sparking a frenzy from high schools looking for the right to have him don their jersey. Duren decided upon Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High School, a program that has produced the likes of Rasual Butler, Brad Wanamaker and Lamar Stevens. The future Memphis Tiger linked up with a future LSU Tiger, Justice Williams, at Roman Catholic. During his first year with the private school powerhouse, the duo rolled their way to a historic Philadelphia Catholic League title. Duren brought home All-State honors following a strong debut season.
Duren's sophomore effort looked to be much of the same, as Roman Catholic seemed to be rolling their way to a third consecutive title, until the COVID-19 pandemic abbreviated the season. Duren and Williams opted to transfer to Montverde Academy for their junior seasons. Competing in the new National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC), the duo joined a team loaded with high-major talent. Montverde recorded a dominant 24-1 record, in which Duren earned All-American honors. Montverde reaffirmed their spot atop the high school basketball ranks with a national championship.&nbsp;
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The Penny Way
In August of 2021, Duren made the surprising decision to reclassify, in conjunction with fellow top 2022 recruit Emoni Bates. The pair of consensus 5-stars pledged their college careers to the Memphis Tigers and head coach Penny Hardaway in the same week. Bates and Duren finished fifth and sixth in the recruiting rankings respectively, and gave Memphis a consensus top-2 recruiting class in the country. The addition of the two 5-star recruits and fellow top-50 player Josh Minott to a veteran-laden Memphis team landed the Tigers at the pre-season No. 12 spot in the country. The Tigers opened the season 6-0, featuring wins against St. Louis, Western Kentucky and Virginia Tech. Duren averaged a double-double &mdash; 13.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game during their run, while also adding 4.2 blocks per game. This impressive stretch included a dominant 22 point, 19 rebound outing against Western Kentucky's 7-5 Jamarion Sharpe. Duren was a physical monster, beasting a talented Hilltoppers squad at every turn.
After peaking at No. 9 in the rankings, Memphis hit quite a bit of turmoil, as a fissure began to form in the locker room following a string of losses. In an interview with The Athletic, Penny said, "We've got so much negativity in our locker room with veterans being jealous. Everybody's trying to get to the NBA off the ranking we had, but nobody is willing to sacrifice minutes, touches, anything. It's been miserable. You can imagine what a 17-year-old is thinking as he's trying to figure it out." Duren has remained positive for the team despite the turmoil, averaging 9.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. I recently saw Duren take on the Central Florida Knights in a game that wasn't highly contested, as Memphis struggled.
Pregame, Duren warmed up and stretched largely individually. He came sporting a very quiet, "I'm about my business" demeanor in which he was locked-in and wasn't particularly jovial. Duren was most impactful defensively during the game, where he registered 3 blocks and was an intimidator in the paint. Offensively he struggled to get into his groove in a game where the Tigers were severely short-handed (only 7 players played, as Jayden Hardaway got injured early).&nbsp;
NBA Bound
Despite a volatile year for the Memphis program as a whole, Duren's draft stock has remained relatively unchanged, as he is still a likely top-10 pick on any reasonable draft board. Additionally, Duren's physical tools have buoyed his draft stock &mdash; he is a top .001% type of athlete.&nbsp;
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Our Sr. Draft Analyst Matt Babcock shared what he has seen out of the 6-foot-10 freshman this season:
"At 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds of muscle to go along with a 7-foot-5 wingspan and good athleticism, Jalen Duren possesses impressive physical tools. He's also a capable passer with a higher skill set than what one might initially expect. Also, remember that he's supposed to be a high school senior this year. However, he chose to reclassify to attend Memphis a year early. It is yet to be determined how high he'll be selected exactly &mdash; and I am concerned with his selective motor &mdash; but I feel comfortable with the idea that he will likely be the first true big man to come off the board on draft night."
Duren currently sits at No. 6 on the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com 2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>.
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Grant Aqui talks likely top-10 2022 draftee Jalen Duren, a talented freshman big man playing in a tough situation for the Memphis Tigers

2022 NBA Draft: Jalen Duren showcasing immense potential

The departure of Kyle Lowry signaled a figurative and literal changing of the guard.
The Toronto Raptors lost their greatest player in franchise history. Lowry was the ultimate drink-stirrer, problem-solver and charge-taker. When you see a guy churn out transition pull-ups, slick passes and timely defensive stops for nearly a decade, it can be jarring to think about life without him.&nbsp;
In a literal sense, it was difficult to envision how the Raptors would perform without Lowry's quarterbacking. It would take a group effort, though most of the onus was sure to fall on Fred VanVleet. Making the shift from off-ball shot-maker to lead initiator is tough in its own right; doing so while waiting on one All-Star to recover (Pascal Siakam) and filling the shoes of another (Lowry) adds to the difficulty level.
Within that context, it's hard not to be impressed with what VanVleet has done. He's taken on the leadership role, operating as a beacon of accountability for on-court matters &mdash; and a <a href="https://rotmancommerce.utoronto.ca/future-students/scholarships-and-awards/the-fred-vanvleet-scholarship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beacon of hope</a> off of it.
On the floor, VanVleet has been excellent. Period. He's been among the league's top-20-or-so players thanks to a career year, putting him in line for the first* All-Star appearance of his career.
*This is the point where I mention he was good enough to make last year's team, but there have been enough rants about that <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1363862647293292548?s=20">on my feed</a> or <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dunker-spot/id1547857052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a> podcast.*
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TAKING THE REINS&nbsp;
This may shock you, but VanVleet has been leaned on more than ever. He's logging a career-high in minutes (37.7, leads NBA) and touches (83.5, 11th), while his usage rate (23.8%) and shot attempts (22 per 100 possessions) are in line with last year's marks.
The pleasant surprise in VanVleet's reponsibility bump: he's been more efficient than ever.
His 58.0% True Shooting percentage (TS%) is the highest of his career; it also marks the first time his TS% has been higher than the league average.
You can attribute a chunk of that to another stellar three-point shooting season (40.0% on 8.8 attempts). VanVleet remains a threat to pull-up against drop coverage, and is one of the slipperiest off-ball players in the league. His 42.3% clip on relocation threes is one of the best among high-volume shooters, per Second Spectrum.
Arguably more important to his development, he's converting a career-best 48.1% of his twos. That isn't an elite clip by any stretch, but it's a massive step up from where VanVleet was last season.
Vertically challenged and without an elite first step, VanVleet has struggled to generate clean looks for himself throughout his career. That he's taken steps in this regard should be commended; it's turned him into a different player.
Pace-changing, scoops and inside-hand finishes are all part of VanVleet's growing bag of tricks. His most consistent weapon is his shoulder, using it as a shield of sorts on gliding attempts or a battering ram to gain a little bit of leverage.
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He's converting a career-best 65.5% of his shots inside of three feet, though transition attempts juice that number. His half-court figure (46.4%) is much lower, but still a massive step up from last season (41.3%), per Synergy.
With VanVleet growing as a scorer, defenses have started sending a little more attention his way. He's been able to leverage that attention by making strides as a passer. He's shown the ability to probe and pick out guys in the past, though that ball-dominant style could take the Raptors late into the clock if he missed a window. It's been encouraging to see him make reads a little quicker this year.
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Sum it up, and VanVleet is one of three East guards currently averaging at least 20 points and 6 assists with a True Shooting percentage of 58% or higher. James Harden and Trae Young are the others; it's safe to say those guys are surefire All-Stars.
SETTING THE TONE
If there's one thing that sets VanVleet apart from Harden and Young &mdash; and other All-Star candidates <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/darius-garland-is-making-the-allstar-leap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like Darius Garland</a> and LaMelo Ball &mdash; it's the ability to defend.
I won't bore you with a "defense is half the game" soapbox take. What I will say is that VanVleet being one of best defenders in the league, on top of what he's providing offensively, deserves a lot more love.&nbsp;
VanVleet remains an absolute menace at the point of attack. He's an elite screen navigator, able to slither around picks and stay attached to ball-handlers. Even if you're able to gain an advantage, he doesn't quit on plays and&nbsp;he has quick, strong hands that allow him to disrupt ball-handlers from behind.
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VanVleet doesn't just do work at the point of attack; he can also punch above his weight against switches. He remains one of the sturdiest post defenders among guards thanks to his core strength and quick hands.&nbsp;
Off the ball, VanVleet is an active deterrent at the nail. Watching him peel over to the free-throw line to thwart a drive, then high-tail it to his assignment on the perimeter is seeing a work of art.&nbsp;
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If "advanced" or On/Off numbers aren't your speed, the traditional stuff works too. VanVleet leads the NBA in deflections per game (3.8), and is tied with fellow elite defender Jrue Holiday in steals (1.6).
If you&nbsp;are&nbsp;a fan of the other stuff, I'd offer these two tidbits.
1) Opponents are generating a shade under 0.9 points per possession on trips featuring a ball-screen defended by VanVleet, a top-five mark among "high volume" defenders per Second Spectrum.
2) The Raptors' defense is <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/vs/advanced/#!?TeamID=1610612761&amp;VsPlayerID=1627832" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10 points worse</a> per 100 possessions with VanVleet on the bench.
There really isn't a strong case against VanVleet being an All-Star this season. His shooting, improved playmaking and stellar defense pop on film. The counting stats &mdash; 21-5-7 with a 58 TS% &mdash; are All-Star good.
The On/Off splits are absurd. Advanced metrics like EPM (shout out the good folks at <a href="https://dunksandthrees.com/epm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DunksAndThrees.com</a>) and <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/nba-player-ratings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">538's RAPTOR</a> don't just paint VanVleet as an All-Star; they paint him as a top-10 player.
He may not be&nbsp;that, but he's pretty darn good.&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan breaks down the All-Star case for Raptors guard Fred VanVleet.

Fred VanVleet's production is making the NBA All-Star case for him

The&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/isiah-thomas-on-mj-magic-and-bird-my-teams-beat-all-them/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
There is a good reason the 1980s are called the golden era of NBA basketball. There were so many great teams and players entrenched in historic rivalries that it&rsquo;s impossible to look past that time. From Larry Bird&rsquo;s Celtics and Magic Johnson's Lakers, to Isiah Thomas' Pistons and the rising Bulls with Michael Jordan, the NBA didn&rsquo;t lack star power.
While we often hear stories about MJ, Larry and Magic as arguably the best three players ever, one Hall-of-Famer that's typically (and surprisingly) left out of that tier is Thomas. Recently, Zeke made a point to remind everyone how he fared against the best players in the toughest era ever.
His Detroit Pistons are one of the best teams in NBA history, and their reputation preceded thems. The nickname &ldquo;Bad Boys&rdquo; was rightfully earned, as their rugged, physical and defensive-minded style of play frustrated opponents all over the league. Of course, the occasional cheap shot from bruisers like Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn or Dennis Rodman didn&rsquo;t help either.
But you had to give it to them. Near the end of the &rsquo;80s, those Pistons teams entered their prime and dominated the NBA, bouncing out Jordan&rsquo;s Bulls numerous times, and even Bird&rsquo;s Celtics. After a dramatic seven-game series loss in the 1988 Finals to Magic&rsquo;s Lakers, the Pistons would come back with a vengeance, sweeping them the following year to win an NBA championship in 1989.
The year after that, in 1990, they dominated the Blazers to win their second one. If not for that dramatic loss to the Lakers that was majorly influenced by Thomas' ankle injury, the Pistons may have three-peated in 1991.
At the end of that year, Jordan and Pippen finally overcame the Pistons and became the king of the East, as Detroit slowly faded away.
The Bad Boys will be remembered in history as one of the most unique and fun teams in history, and everyone knew them for their defense and hacking style of play. But this team was much more than that. On the other side of the floor, they could light you up if needed; after all, Thomas was a part of the 1983 team that scored 186 points in a game.
Recently, Thomas spoke with Channing Frye and explained to people how good he and his Piston teams were by simply reminding him how he beat everyone&rsquo;s favorite players in the &rsquo;80s:
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&ldquo;All them people that they say are the best to ever do it, my teams beat all them.&rdquo;<a href="https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IsiahThomas</a> talked about his &lsquo;Bad Boy&rsquo; Pistons teams with <a href="https://twitter.com/channingfrye?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@channingfrye</a> on an all-new &lsquo;Full-Bodied&rsquo; 👀 <a href="https://t.co/N0wzkgGfw6">https://t.co/N0wzkgGfw6</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/Porsche?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@porsche</a>) <a href="https://t.co/BmEXw3E2cD">pic.twitter.com/BmEXw3E2cD</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1473755187571347456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Zeke is right on point. Detroit's defense was its forte, but the Pistons wouldn&rsquo;t have been so good for years if they didn&rsquo;t have a talented, complete team.
When you talk about the 80&rsquo;s Pistons and Isiah Thomas, you have to take a deeper look at their legacy and give them respect.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

On "Full Bodied" with Channing Frye, Pistons legend Isiah Thomas spoke highly of his teams that defeated legends.

Isiah Thomas on MJ, Magic and Bird: 'My teams beat all of them'

The&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/iman-shumpert-explains-how-lebron-ruined-basketball/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m gonna take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.&rdquo;
The infamous sentence by LeBron James that completely changed the NBA landscape back in 2010 had a greater effect on the league than you might think. Sure, it shifted the landscape of the league at that time, but the long-term impact was felt in the fact that players started to team up other more, forming super-teams and disbanding loyalty in the pursuit of a championship. LeBron&rsquo;s former teammate, Iman Shumpert, blames James for this shift in thinking. In fact, he believes James ruined the NBA.
&ldquo;'Bron ruined basketball. He thought he was making it better; I get him," Shumpert said. "Me personally, I loved the NBA for the loyalty that I thought was there. He basically knocked the fourth wall down like, 'The organization, they bullsh*tting, we doing what we want.' Great business move for sure, but when you think about it, outside looking in, like, I got people tweeting me right now [and] they're literally talking about owners and trades. It&rsquo;s like, bro, y&rsquo;all aren&rsquo;t supposed to be talking about none of this actually!"
It&rsquo;s ridiculous to say LeBron started super-teams with the 2010 Miami Heat because we have seen many teams with multiple All-Stars going all the way through history. But the Heat's Big Three was formed differently. Players didn&rsquo;t have the kind of power or leverage to go wherever they wanted and team up with their friends. Ownership groups and front offices had all the power, but LeBron broke the wall and showed that the players actually had the control.&nbsp;
Ever since then, players have been getting more and more power in the NBA, getting larger contracts, requesting trades, signing wherever they want, recruiting each other and simply sitting out if they don&rsquo;t want to play. All of this was unheard of in the NBA 15 years ago. But LeBron&rsquo;s push for player empowerment changed the complete hierarchy of the league and gave the steering wheel to the players. Some would argue that this was good for the league, while others would say it&rsquo;s destroying it. One thing&rsquo;s for sure: it has its perks and flaws.
While it&rsquo;s entertaining to see super-teams due to the abundance of transcendent talent playing together, some feel it kills the nature of the NBA. The league gets too centralized with only a few select elite teams, while the rest get the short end of the stick and no attention. That mainly happens to the small-market teams that don&rsquo;t have the appeal of the big cities to lure stars.&nbsp;
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It also killed loyalty and the romanticism that once graced the NBA, with every team having its star or two that were heroes of the city for their whole careers. Instead, nowadays, it&rsquo;s normal to see star players switch teams numerous times and look for their best situation, rather than sticking it out with their original team. Of course, there are exceptions; Damian Lillard is the obvious one.
Shumpert believes that fans look at the game differently and focus on the wrong things ever since James joined the Heat. Fans have always been interested in rumors and transactions, but there's no question that it reached a new level during the player-empowerment era. These days, some fans are more interested in what happens off the court than the actual games.
James' free-agency choice in 2010 will undoubtedly continue to be viewed as one of the most polarizing moves in NBA history.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Iman Shumpert discussed the effects of LeBron James' decision to join the Miami Heat.

Iman Shumpert lets loose on how LeBron 'ruined basketball'

The&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/scottie-pippen-says-the-one-player-he-wishes-he-couldve-played-with-in-his-career-was-kobe-bryant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
Scottie Pippen played with numerous Hall-of-Fame players throughout his illustrious career, and in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5sjvizM9nc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a recent interview with GQ Sports</a>, he shared that Kobe Bryant is the one player he wishes he could have been teammates with during his playing days.
In addition to playing with terrific players like Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman on the Chicago Bulls, Pippen also played alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley on the Houston Rockets. After that, he was on a very talented Portland Trail Blazers squad that almost made it to the NBA Finals in 2000.
However, when asked about the players he wishes he'd gotten to play with during his career, Pippen mentioned Kobe Bryant. In the later stages of Pippen's career, he had quite a few battles with Bryant in the Western Conference and he wishes they could've teamed up at some point.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The best teammate I ever played with is Michael Jordan, and there is no doubt about it, and I am going to say that all day every day," Pippen said.
"The one teammate I wish I could have played with that I didn&rsquo;t play with was Kobe Bryant.&rdquo;
Kobe was known for being incredibly studious about the game of basketball and he would often reach out to veteran players in order to learn as much as possible from them. Bryant admired Pippen's skill set and contacted the forward in order to pick his brain. To this day, Pippen is still regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders of all-time. Kobe often called Scottie to ask him for advice on how to defend certain players and discuss how to approach certain situations on defense.
&ldquo;Kobe really idolized the way I played the game, the way I defended," Pippen said. "He started to call me after I retired to ask questions about different situations. 'How would you guard certain people?' or, 'What kind of footwork [would you use]?' or, 'What do you do in this situation?' Just picking your brain to enhance his ability out on the basketball court. He was a great student of the game, and he would ask me questions about how I would guard Michael in these situations, and this and that. He was just trying to improve his craft.&rdquo;
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It&rsquo;s safe to say that Pippen and Bryant on the same team would have worked perfectly. Kobe was the closest thing to Jordan, so there's no question that his skill set would go hand in hand with Pippen&rsquo;s. Even in the latter stages of his career, Pippen was still solid on both ends of the floor, while Kobe was an absolute beast on offense and an underrated defender in his own right.
Obviously, we never got a chance to see them play alongside each other, but it would have been fun to see these two on the same team &mdash; especially on the Los Angeles Lakers, which would've given Pippen a chance to add to his six championships.
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Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
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Scottie Pippen told GQ Sports: "The one teammate I wish I could have played with and I didn’t play with was Kobe Bryant.”

Scottie Pippen says he wishes he could've played with Kobe Bryant

I can't help but love a good rebuilding basketball team.
Maybe it's the romantic MyLeague player in me, who spent hours trading 2026 draft picks and using Untapped Potential camps (if you know, you know) to turn a roster of under-25 players into a dynasty. But watching a young core struggle, learn and adjust to the NBA game never gets old. When those glimpses of the future sneak out, they make every loss seem worthwhile.
That's where I'm at with the Orlando Magic, who have become one of the most fun bottom-feeders in the NBA. The Magic, at 2-8, aren't exactly lighting up the league. But three prospects in particular have stood out in surprising fashion, giving fans even more optimism that this core can contend down the road.
Second-year guard Cole Anthony is the first and most obvious young talent on breakout watch. Anthony has been a simply phenomenal shot-maker &mdash; even beyond what I realized.
According to NBA Stats, the 2020 No. 15 pick is shooting 48.4% on pull-up threes &mdash; tops in the entire league among players with at least 20 attempts. Among 119 players with at least 20 pull-up attempts from anywhere on the court, Anthony's Effective Field Goal percentage is tied for fourth-best with Darius Garland (59.8%).
Overall, Anthony's perimeter game has taken a dramatic leap. He's shooting 7.7 threes per game compared to just 3.7 as a rookie, and his three-point attempt rate (the percentage of his shot attempts that are threes) has skyrocketed from 31.2% to 50.7%. Anthony has whittled down his rookie mid-range game and traded it in for a three-point fireball.
Per Cleaning the Glass, Anthony has jumped from the 19th percentile among guards in points per shot attempt as a rookie to the 66th percentile this season. That's massive. And even though Anthony himself is not massive (6-foot-2), his 7.5 rebounds per game rank fourth-most among all guards, behind only Russell Westbrook, Luka Doncic and Dejounte Murray. Altogether, it's been an extremely fun start for Anthony, and he's still very much a work in progress.
Anthony shares the starting backcourt with No. 5 overall rookie Jalen Suggs, who is enduring his fair share of bumps as he adapts to the NBA. But Orlando's other rookie lottery pick has come out firing.
Franz Wagner has already made 20 total catch-and-shoot threes per NBA Stats, which is tied for the 10th-most in the entire league. He's done so at a very respectable 40.8% clip, and is shooting 39.6% from three overall. Wagner is also finishing an impressive 71.4% of his attempts at the rim, and to the delight of analytics folks, has not attemped a single long two-pointer all season.
He's not Mikal Bridges, but Wagner can very clearly fill a Bridges-like offensive role as a sharpshooter who can effectively attack the basket off-ball. Orlando is 17.1 points per 100 possessions better when the eighth overall pick is on the court. Sects of Draft Twitter were extremely high on Wagner throughout the summer. I concede I was not, and am happily wrong so far.
Speaking of efficiency... Mo Bamba, everybody.
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NBA players finishing at over 70% in the restricted area and 40% on threes (min. 20 attempts of each): - Mikal Bridges (87.5%/44.0%) - Nikola Jokic (78.0%/40.6%) - RJ Barrett (77.8%/42.9%) - Mo Bamba (77.8%/40.6%) Some elite efficiency 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/iv1d9rS8eX">pic.twitter.com/iv1d9rS8eX</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1455909816380051466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Bamba has made 40% of his catch-and-shoot three-pointers. And while he's technically dipped under the original stat, the 23-year-old is still canning 39% of his career-high 4.1 three-point attempts per game. The former fifth overall pick also continues to be a forceful rim-protector; his 3.4% block rate is in the 86th percentile at his position, per Cleaning the Glass.
There's a level of surprise to all three of these breakouts. The public had come pretty close to slapping the "bust" label on Bamba after three seasons glued to the bench behind Nikola Vucevic. Anthony appeared to be much more of a long-term project after last season, and Wagner was frequently overshadowed by his pre-draft counterpart in Suggs.
But all three are delivering, particularly as scorers. It's an exciting development for an Orlando franchise that has lacked shooting depth for the better part of a decade. In fact, Orlando hasn't yielded an above-average offensive rating (by Cleaning the Glass standards) or a top-10 team-wide eFG% since 2011-12.
Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz are still working to get back into the fold. Chuma Okeke and Wendell Carter Jr. are finally stringing some healthy contests together. The Magic have turned me from "intrigued" to "Christmas morning excitement" with this season's early developments, and the best should be yet to come.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I find in the void):
<ul>
<li>One more thing on the Magic: Orlando led the league in three-point rate for five straight seasons from 2007-2012 &mdash; when Dwight Howard was on the team! Props to Ryan Anderson, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Redick, Mickael Pietrus, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis.</li>
<li>Malcolm Brogdon continues to fly under the radar. The talented Pacer point guard drives 23.2 times per game and dishes out 3.5 assists per game on drives &mdash; both tops in the NBA. He's even leading the league in passes made per game (68.8)m and is fourth in potential assists per game (16.3).</li>
<li>Stealing this one from our own Jackson Frank: 96% (49 out of 51) of Julius Randle's assists this season have been on at-rim makes or threes. That's a testament to many things: Randle's improved facilitating, the Knicks' improved perimeter presence and perhaps an overall stronger offensive focus. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-bizarro-world-new-york-knicks-reside-in-the-big-apple-these-days" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Go read his story for more</a> on this because it's phenomenal.</li>
<li>Congrats to Owen Phillips (@<a href="https://twitter.com/owenlhjphillips" target="_blank" rel="noopener">owenlhjphillips</a>) on getting a job with the Knicks' coaching analytics department! He's been my gold standard of stats gurus; I highly recommend you check out his Twitter and Substack. Phillips creates relevant, unique, understandable data visualizations, which is all you could ask for.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Ethan Fuller takes a look at exciting young Orlando players and Malcolm Brogdon in his latest Stats Notebook.

Stats Notebook: Hop on the Magic School Bus

There are certain things you can count on every NBA season. One of them is a week-long debate in late January surrounding which players should and shouldn&rsquo;t have been named All-Stars.
We can&rsquo;t even agree on who the top-12 players in each conference are, so how on earth were we supposed to somehow figure out who the top 75 NBA players in history were?
Fact of the matter is that we never were.
On Thursday night, the NBA completed its three-day-long process by which it named the members of its 75th anniversary team. It&rsquo;d been 25 years since the league named its 50 greatest players in history in 1996, so &mdash; as has been tradition since the league named its 25 greatest players in 1971 &mdash; it was time to serve up some honors.
Heading into the season, it was unclear whether the league would simply add 25 more names to its top-50 list or effectively start from the beginning. Although there would have been significant overlap, starting anew would have given more players from previous generations a chance at cracking the list.
It wasn&rsquo;t meant to be, though.
As it turns out, the NBA 75 included all 50 of the NBA&rsquo;s Top 50 Players and 26 more (due to a tie).&nbsp;
Bob McAdoo and Dominique Wilkins were the only two nominated players who were snubbed from the top-50 list, with Dennis Rodman and Gary Payton making the cut this time. The other 22 are contemporaries, the great majority of which are no-brainers.
Of the 22 contemporary players named to the 75th anniversary team are 14 with whom the general public can&rsquo;t take issue: Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, James Harden, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade.
To varying degrees, credible arguments could be advanced against the eight others: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Reggie Miller, Paul Pierce and Russell Westbrook. And for Giannis, Davis, Leonard and Lillard, the arguments against them are mostly with respect to their pitch count, which a voter could reasonably decide to go either way when determining whether that should be a factor or not.
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At the end of the day, we ended up with a list of players who can rightfully lay claim to being one of the top 75 in history.&nbsp;
As is always the case, there are some notable omissions, with Vince Carter and Dwight Howard being the two contemporary players who have the best argument as snubs. That&rsquo;s just the way the cookie crumbles. And that&rsquo;s kinda the point.
Whether it&rsquo;s All-Star selections or where a player is drafted in the All-Star draft, the conversation and controversy that surrounds these lists and distinctions is what has made the NBA a multibillion dollar industry. And that&rsquo;s not to say that there&rsquo;s any nefarious or malicious intent on the part of the NBA for bestowing these honors &mdash; the league named 25th, 35th and 50th anniversary teams before the 75th team &mdash; it&rsquo;s just a fact. Our opinions are formed mostly by what we see and a bit of what we hear. As a basketball community dispersed across the world, we have varying degrees of values and exposures that help us formulate our opinions.
It&rsquo;s important that we keep that in mind.
Somewhere in Barcelona, there&rsquo;s a 24-year-old basketball fan who&rsquo;s shocked that Pau Gasol didn&rsquo;t make the cut. RJ Barrett and Dillon Brooks are probably texting Vince Carter as we speak. Chris Bosh is probably looking at his career profile on Wikipedia and comparing it to Reggie Miller&rsquo;s and trying to make sense of it all&hellip; Klay Thompson came out and posted an IG story wondering why he didn't make it. It&rsquo;s the nature of the beast.
Where we can all find common ground and some understanding when it comes to these kinds of exercises is that the league itself doesn&rsquo;t unilaterally bestow any honor &mdash; it doesn&rsquo;t choose its own MVP or name its own All-Stars, so it certainly wouldn&rsquo;t take the liberty of keeping a responsibility with this magnitude to itself. As it always does, the league carefully selected a panel of 88 individuals to vote for their top 75 players and Ernst &amp; Young LLP &mdash; the independent accounting firm the league entrusts most of its matters to &mdash; tabulated the results.
Those entrusted with votes included former NBA and WNBA greats, select members of the media and team personnel. As a class, they can rightfully be entrusted to know the game of basketball, and at the end of the day, this was the most fair way to come to a conclusion, even if Tracy McGrady, Chris Webber or Grant Hill don&rsquo;t like it.
As the NBA begins the 75th season in its long history, the game has continued to thrive and has grown tremendously. Three of the league&rsquo;s teams have received <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nbas-projected-revenue-and-franchise-valuations-reach-alltime-highs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">valuations north of $5 billion</a> and the league is hoping to leverage our curiosity, attention and willingness to watch and debate into another television deal that may see its revenue <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nbas-projected-revenue-and-franchise-valuations-reach-alltime-highs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple once again</a>.
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If you go back and evaluate the tenure of the late, great David Stern, it will become obvious that his desire was to help the league expand and to grow the game of basketball. When he took over the league in 1984, it had 23 teams. By the time he stepped down as Commissioner in 2014, it had increased to 30, including expansion into Canada.
For Silver &mdash; whether his intention or not &mdash; the hallmark of his reign has been the expansion of the league&rsquo;s bottom line. Merely months after assuming his role, he came out in support of legalized sports gambling in the United States and shortly thereafter oversaw the league&rsquo;s negotiation on a TV deal that tripled the league&rsquo;s television revenue.
From minimizing the back-to-back games to reducing travel schedules and revising the All-Star game to implementing rule changes, Silver&rsquo;s tenure has seen the league focus on improving the quality of games and making them more fun to watch. We as fans win.
So does the league&rsquo;s bottom line.
In the end, to a large extent, pro sports will continue to be about debating. That didn&rsquo;t begin with the NBA&rsquo;s 75th anniversary team, and, obviously, it won&rsquo;t end with it, either. We&rsquo;ll continue to talk about it, and for sure, we&rsquo;ll continue to argue among ourselves. Just like the league intends.
It's no coincidence that Silver kicked off his annual start-of-season presser by saying, "In terms of our 75th anniversary, we look forward to celebrating the players and teams, both past and present, that have helped shape the league... Many of you I know have created your own lists, and several of them I&rsquo;ve been reading. There&rsquo;s no doubt that the various rankings will generate a season-long debate and conversation among fans and all of you."
Somewhere, Silver is smiling, even if Vince Carter isn&rsquo;t.

The NBA released it's 75th anniversary team and there were snubs, such as Dwight Howard and Vince Carter. But isn't that the point?

There were major snubs from NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, as expected

The NBA released the remaining 25 players of the league's 75th anniversary team Thursday night on TNT.
Here is the official release from the NBA, which lists all 75 players that made the team and the people that voted on the NBA's top 75 players of all-time team:
"A total of 158 NBA championships and 730 NBA All-Star selections. &nbsp;A combined 110 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Awards and Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Awards. &nbsp;More than 1.5 million points scored.
Those are just some of the collective accomplishments of the players who comprise the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, which was announced across TNT and ESPN from Oct. 19-21 as the league tipped off its landmark 75th Anniversary Season.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers and team and league executives, WNBA legends and sportswriters and broadcasters. &nbsp;Voters were asked to select the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History without regard to position. &nbsp;Panelists did not rank their selections. &nbsp;Current and former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.
As a result of a tie in the voting, the 75th Anniversary Team features 76 players. &nbsp;Team highlights include:
&bull; Eleven active players have been named to the 75th Anniversary Team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
&bull; All 50 members of the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, which was named in 1996, have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team.
&bull; The 75th Anniversary Team includes four players who played in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951 (Paul Arizin, Bob Cousy, George Mikan and Dolph Schayes), the first winner of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award (Bob Pettit for the 1955-56 season) and the first winner of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award (Jerry West for the 1969 NBA Finals).
&bull; Bill Russell joins Cousy, Mikan and Pettit as the only four players who have been named to all four NBA Anniversary Teams: the 25th Anniversary Team (10 players named), 35th Anniversary Team (11 players named), 50th Anniversary Team and 75th Anniversary Team. (The 25th Anniversary Team was the only one of the four teams that did not allow for the inclusion of active players at the time.)
&bull; Six international players from six countries and territories have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team: Antetokounmpo (Greece), Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Patrick Ewing (Jamaica), Steve Nash (Canada), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).
&bull; The five NBA legends who are serving as ambassadors for the 75th Anniversary Season are part of the 75th Anniversary Team: Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Nowitzki, Pettit and Oscar Robertson. Representing different eras of the league&rsquo;s history, the ambassadors will make appearances throughout the 2021-22 season and have a significant presence at NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team is listed below in alphabetical order, followed by the list of voters. &nbsp;The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst &amp; Young LLP. &nbsp;For player profiles on each member of the 75th Anniversary Team, click here and visit NBA.com/75."
<table style="width: 95.7926%; height: 464px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 27px;">
<td style="text-align: center; width: 149.879%; height: 27px;" colspan="4" width="691">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Damian Lillard</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Scottie Pippen</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Ray Allen</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Willis Reed</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Durant</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Karl Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Oscar Robertson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Carmelo Anthony</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Moses Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Archibald</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Pete Maravich</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dennis Rodman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Arizin</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob McAdoo</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Garnett</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin McHale</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dolph Schayes</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Mikan</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Sharman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elgin Baylor</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hal Greer</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Reggie Miller</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Harden</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Larry Bird</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Havlicek</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Thurmond</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kobe Bryant</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wes Unseld</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wilt Chamberlain</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Allen Iverson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hakeem Olajuwon</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dwyane Wade</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Cousy</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">LeBron James</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Russell Westbrook</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Gary Payton</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Anthony Davis</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jason Kidd</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dominique Wilkins</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave DeBusschere</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kawhi Leonard</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Pierce</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 97.1703%; height: 798px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 170.677%;" colspan="4" width="719">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM VOTING PANEL</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jack McCallum</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Marv Albert</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">David DuPree</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Brian McIntyre</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">David Aldridge</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Wayne Embry</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ann Meyers</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bob Ryan</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sam Amick</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Yoko Miyaji</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Simmons</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sam Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Aschburner</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Stephen A. Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rachel Nichols</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Marc Spears</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Russ Granik</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Erik Spoelstra</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Howard Beck</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Becky Hammon</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Hannah Storm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sue Bird</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Ernie Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Candace Parker</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sheryl Swoopes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Carol Blazejowski</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Mike Breen</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rod Thorn</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doris Burke</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Scottie Pippen</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rudy Tomjanovich</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jerry Colangelo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Steve Kerr</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Gregg Popovich</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Peter Vecsey</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doug Collins</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Bob Lanier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaun Powell</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Cynthia Cooper</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Kara Lawson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ahmad Rashad</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rick Welts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Costas</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Lisa Leslie</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Willis Reed</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Nancy Lieberman</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Tim Reynolds</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Michael Wilbon</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Zach Lowe</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bill Rhoden</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Pat Riley</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jackie MacMullan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Oscar Robertson</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jeff Zillgitt</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Some notable snubs include Tracy McGrady, Bernard King, Alex English, Vince Carter, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Bob McAdoo, and Pau Gasol to just name a few. This list was part of the NBA's marketing campaign for the league's historic 75th season and will surely spark a conversation/debate amongst NBA fans all over the world.

The NBA released the final 25 players of the 75th anniversary team Thursday on TNT.

Final 25 members of NBA's 75th Anniversary Team announced

The <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/toni-kukoc-reveals-a-special-fine-phil-jackson-had-for-big-men/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
Reaching the mountaintop gives a man perspective. For Toni Kukoč, joining the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame was that mountaintop. He achieved everything a basketball player could ever dream of, and it gave Kukoč the freedom to talk about the game with as little bias as possible.
As a key member of one of the greatest teams ever to play, Kukoč is often asked to compare teams to the 1990s Bulls. The &ldquo;back in my day&rdquo; arguments are often superficial, but the Croatian big man sees something good in them &mdash; fire and passion about the game that never leaves a true champion&rsquo;s heart.
&ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s going to say their generation played the best basketball and everyone has their arguments," Kukoc <a href="https://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/ekskluzivno-toni-kukoc-za-index-se-potpuno-otvorio-i-dao-najveci-intervju-u-zivotu/2309354.aspx?index_ref=naslovnica_sport_prva_d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Croatian online newspaper Index.hr</a>. "The older generation will say &lsquo;If only I had private jets, massage therapists, nutritionists and a million dollars to spend on oxygen chambers, and YouTube to watch other players and learn from them.' When I hear that, and I want to be clear, there&rsquo;s a case to be made there; I&rsquo;m happy because it means the old guys still have the competitive spirit and would like to take on the younger generations.&rdquo;
Most of the time, we hear a guy saying, &ldquo;Get off my lawn&rdquo; when discussions like that start. That&rsquo;s where age and experience can provide perspective. It&rsquo;s easy to say older players are haters when pointing out the circumstances they had to play in vs. what the league is today, and social media programs us to take people at their worst. What Kukoč is saying is that we should take them at their best. It&rsquo;s not hate; it&rsquo;s the competitive drive that made those from the previous era the champions they are.
However, that doesn&rsquo;t mean Kukoč won&rsquo;t compare his era to today&rsquo;s NBA. He just does it without any bitterness or an ax to grind.
&ldquo;You could get away with more in my day. I&rsquo;m primarily talking about defense when I say that It was a more physical game," Kukoč <a href="https://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/ekskluzivno-toni-kukoc-za-index-se-potpuno-otvorio-i-dao-najveci-intervju-u-zivotu/2309354.aspx?index_ref=naslovnica_sport_prva_d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "Detroit, Boston, New York, Indiana &mdash; all East teams played a similar game. Back then, the consensus was East teams played better defense and West teams played better offense. Games were a lot stronger back then &mdash; not quicker, but stronger. The NBA&rsquo;s put in a lot of effort to protect the best players. We won&rsquo;t see the heavy fouls as we use to on [Isiah] Thomas, [Larry] Bird or [Michael] Jordan. And that&rsquo;s normal.&rdquo;
Kukoč disagrees with older fans who fell in love with basketball in the '90s when they say today&rsquo;s game and the players are weak. He believes the modern game has a lot more speed, and still has strength and new elements that make it a lot more dynamic. His Bulls were avant-garde by playing Dennis Rodman as a small-ball 5. Still, they did certain things the old way, and there was a price to pay if you broke the rules.
&ldquo;I remember we had a rule [with] the Bulls. 4s and 5s could only shoot the three if it was the last second of the possession," Kukoč <a href="https://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/ekskluzivno-toni-kukoc-za-index-se-potpuno-otvorio-i-dao-najveci-intervju-u-zivotu/2309354.aspx?index_ref=naslovnica_sport_prva_d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "If they launched one with more than a second on the clock and missed, Phil [Jackson] would fine them $500. Players like that [today] are expected to launch it early in a possession.&rdquo;
The drawback to power forwards and centers having free reign to shoot from behind the arc is that some players never develop an inside game. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean shooting is terrible &mdash; it just means the pendulum swung way too much in that direction. Still, a time where guys in Chicago got fined on rangier shot attempts simply because of their size also wasn&rsquo;t great. You don&rsquo;t get a Dirk Nowitzki if he had so much pressure every time he took a shot.
The pinnacle of basketball is a complete game. The players we adore the most, like MJ and Kobe Bryant, were special because they could do it all. Speed it up, and slow it down. Drain it from outside, go to work in the mid-range and back a smaller guy down.
Toni <a href="https://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/ekskluzivno-toni-kukoc-za-index-se-potpuno-otvorio-i-dao-najveci-intervju-u-zivotu/2309354.aspx?index_ref=naslovnica_sport_prva_d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said it best</a>: &ldquo;The game is fast, beautiful, and I like it this way, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean I have a bad word to say about the game back then.&rdquo;
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net <a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Toni Kukoc spoke on how the current NBA product differs from the past — and why that's okay.

DJ