Miami Heat

The 2023 NBA Draft could go down as a special class, with talented prospects such as Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller and the Thompson twins as well as some interesting depth pieces.
But will it ever be considered one of the best draft classes in NBA history? That remains to be seen.
Today, we're going to identify the cr&egrave;me de la cr&egrave;me of NBA draft classes.
The 2003 NBA Draft
The 2003 NBA Draft featured multiple generational talents that would come to define the NBA for the next two decades. Led by LeBron James, this class also included household names such as Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Not only did this draft have star power, it was also very deep. Twenty-seven players from the 2003 class played at least 10 seasons in the NBA: James, Wade, Anthony, Bosh, Kyle Korver, David West, Zaza Pachulia, Nick Collison, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, James Jones, Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, Dahntay Jones, Steve Blake, Mo Williams, Luke Ridnour, Willie Green, Matt Bonner, Travis Outlaw, Keith Bogans, Darko Milicic, Mickael Pietrus, Sasha Pavlovic, Josh Howard and Luke Walton. This class featured nine All-Stars and plenty of quality role players.
The 1984 NBA Draft
The 1984 NBA Draft stands as a legendary class, and some might argue that it's the greatest draft of all-time. Two of the top three picks &mdash; Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon &mdash; would ultimately etch their names in the annals of basketball history and redefine greatness. In addition to Jordan and Olajuwon, players like Charles Barkley, John Stockton and Alvin Robertson showcased their immense talent as well. This class produced five Hall-of-Famers and seven All-Stars.
The 1996 NBA Draft
The 1996 NBA Draft changed the landscape of the league, heralding the arrival of future Hall-of-Famers and icons. Led by the legendary Kobe Bryant and the enigmatic Allen Iverson, this class boasted an array of talent that reinvigorated the game. This class also featured Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace, Stephon Marbury, Peja Stojakovic, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Antoine Walker, Marcus Camby, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Derek Fisher. The 1996 NBA Draft was deep, producing 10 All-Stars and five Hall-of-Famers. Jon Finkel recently revisited this star-studded class in his book "1996," and he <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/revisiting-the-starstudded-1996-nba-draft-kobe-bryant-ray-allen-steve-nash-allen-iverson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ran a terrific excerpt on Basketball News</a>.
The 1985 NBA Draft
The 1985 NBA Draft was certainly special. This class featured 10 All-Stars including Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars, Detlef Schrempf, Xavier McDaniel, Charles Oakley, &nbsp;AC Green, Terry Porter and Michael Adams. The class also featured Arvydas Sabonis, an overseas legend and terrific Portland Trail Blazer. Like the 1996 NBA Draft, this class has the star power and depth to be considered one of the best drafts in NBA history.
The 2009 NBA Draft
While not as immediately illustrious as some of the other classes on this list, the 2009 NBA Draft proved to be a treasure trove of talent. This class exemplified the importance of patience and player development, as Stephen Curry, James Harden, Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague would all go on to become All-Stars. Griffin missed his rookie year with an injury, but dominated as soon as he stepped on an NBA court. Curry battled injuries early in his career, but would become a four-time champion and two-time MVP. Harden went from being an elite sixth man to an MVP once he got the opportunity in Houston. This class also featured Brandon Jennings, Ricky Rubio, Tyreke Evans, Darren Collison, Ty Lawson, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Taj Gibson and Patrick Beverley among others.
Which class is the greatest in NBA history? <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tweet us your thoughts</a>!&nbsp;

Basketball News examines the crème de la crème of draft classes throughout NBA history.

Exploring the 5 best draft classes in NBA history

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) &mdash; Oklahoma City's top scorer was out, so everybody pitched in to make things work.
Josh Giddey scored a season-high 25 points and the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the NBA-leading Boston Celtics 150-117 on Tuesday night.
Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who ranks among the league&rsquo;s leaders with 30.8 points per game, sat out with an illness. Without him, the Thunder set a record for points since the team moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle before the 2008-2009 season. The previous mark was 149 points in 2013.
Lu Dort scored 23 points and Jalen Williams, Tre Mann and Isaiah Joe each added 21 points for the Thunder. They shot 59.2% from the field.
&ldquo;I just think we&rsquo;ve got great players and great people," Mann said. &ldquo;Guys who don&rsquo;t really care who gets the credit.&rdquo;
The Thunder hadn't won a game by more than 16 and the Celtics hadn't lost by more than 16 this season. Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said the result came from his team's approach.
&ldquo;I told them after the game, I want them to realize what got it going, which was we had a great practice yesterday, came into the game with great focus on both ends of the floor, what we had to do, and that&rsquo;s what allowed us to have fun tonight," he said. "And we can&rsquo;t lose sight of that.&rdquo;
Oklahoma City took advantage of the fact that Robert Williams, one of Boston's primary rim protectors, was out managing his injured left knee. The Thunder made 38 of 58 shots inside the 3-point line.
"You have to play with a sense of humility every night knowing your opponent wants to beat you,&rdquo; Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. &ldquo;We have to match that, and we didn&rsquo;t. We got outplayed in every aspect of the game.&rdquo;
Jaylen Brown scored 29 points for Boston, and Jayson Tatum added 27.
The Thunder led 74-54 at halftime behind Joe's 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Oklahoma City shot 57% in the first half. The Celtics trailed big, despite Brown's 18 points in the first half.
A 10-0 run put Oklahoma City ahead 90-63 just over three minutes into the second half, and the game was never close after that. The Thunder scored 48 points in the third quarter &mdash; the most ever for an Oklahoma City team in a quarter &mdash; and shot 67.9% in the third to lead 122-91 heading into the fourth.
Oklahoma City&rsquo;s largest lead was 37 points.
&ldquo;Late in the second quarter, they sort of put their head down, Boston did, and they got to the line and they were trying to play through us and they were just trying to like jam their way back into the game," Daigneault said. "And we needed to stand in there in order to fend that off. And I thought the guys did a really good job of that.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: Mazzulla and G Marcus Smart attended the Oklahoma State-West Virginia game Tuesday in Stillwater and sat together. Smart played college ball for Oklahoma State and Mazzulla played for West Virginia. Oklahoma State won 67-60. ... Smart was called for a technical in the second quarter and ejected in the third for berating an official.
Thunder: Even Oklahoma City&rsquo;s fans were hitting shots from deep. Johnnie Durossette, a 20-year-old from Muskogee, Oklahoma, made the MidFirst Bank halfcourt shot during a timeout to win $20,000. ... F Aaron Wiggins scored 17 points.
AT HOME
The Celtics had their shootaround at the Oklahoma City facility where Celtics F Blake Griffin's AAU basketball program practices. Griffin is from Oklahoma City and he played college ball at the University of Oklahoma.
&nbsp;

Josh Giddey scored a season-high 25 points and the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Boston Celtics 150-117.

Thunder blow out Celtics 150-117 without Gilgeous-Alexander

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:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/original-chart.jpg" alt="" width="585" height="449" />
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

The&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/the-last-guy-to-do-what-lamelo-ball-is-doing-was-20-year-old-lebron-james/" 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>:
The future is bright for LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets. The young point guard came into the league with a lot of baggage and expectations, and has knocked it out of the park. The numbers LaMelo has produced this early in his career are reminiscent of The Kid from Akron, LeBron James, who had his own hype train rolling from a young age.
Since his first game in the NBA, Ball has displayed maturity and game smarts that are advanced for his age. LaMelo&rsquo;s impact is reflected in the Hornets&rsquo; 19-17 record this season, which is much better than expected and puts them in the playoff picture in a much stronger Eastern Conference.
The fans are excited, and the players are having fun on the floor. Clearly, Charlotte has drafted well under Mitch Kupchak and Michael Jordan's franchise is headed in the right direction.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
LaMelo Ball &amp; Terry Rozier combined for 56 points to power the <a href="https://twitter.com/hornets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hornets</a> to victory! <a href="https://t.co/SVvxGfprad">pic.twitter.com/SVvxGfprad</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1476551148991660041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2021</a></blockquote>
As the Rookie of the Year winner last season, heightened expectations were put on Ball&rsquo;s shoulders this year. Sophomores in the league sometimes struggle to live up to the hype, but not LaMelo. The former Chino Hills star is averaging career-highs across the board, which is a big reason why fans finally have reason to believe that the Hornets are for real. Ball&rsquo;s game has been impressive to the point of making history, and it deserves special recognition.&nbsp;
Comparable to the MVP
There are only two players in the league who lead their teams in points, rebounds, assists and steals this season, per Basketball-Reference. One is the reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, and the other is Ball. LaMelo is averaging 19.7 points, 8.0 assists, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals as a 20-year-old player. If he continues this fine display, Ball is on track to become the youngest player in NBA history to achieve this sensational feat.
When it comes to young stars carrying their teams, LeBron James comes to mind. When he was a 20-year-old, James averaged 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game in Cleveland. James led the team in points, assists and steals in that span, but Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden grabbed more rebounds than him.
Context makes LaMelo&rsquo;s case even more impressive, as his supporting cast is undoubtedly better than LeBron&rsquo;s was in Cleveland at the time. To stand out in all four categories without having the entire team designed around him, as the Cavs were for LeBron, is a credit to LaMelo&rsquo;s versatility.
Someday, we may look back at the 2020 NBA Draft and wonder how Ball slipped past two teams and into Charlotte's hands. Could you imagine LaMelo next to Steph Curry and Draymond Green in Golden State? That would&rsquo;ve been a sight to see.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

As a 20-year-old leading the Hornets, LaMelo Ball is on pace to accomplish a feat that's never been done by a player his age.

LaMelo Ball on track for NBA record that even LeBron couldn't set

If you're reading this article, chances are you're a diehard NBA fan.
Most fans can recall the player or team that made them fall in love with this sport. For some, it was a specific player; for others, a certain team won them over. We asked our BasketballNews staff:
Which player or team made you fall in love with the NBA?
Alex Kennedy: I fell in love with basketball because of Tracy McGrady and the early-2000s Orlando Magic. They were my local team, and McGrady made the game look so easy. He scored at will (winning back-to-back scoring titles and, at one point, averaging 32.1 points per game). I had T-Mac shoes, shirts, bracelets, etc. My first NBA game was the Christmas Day showdown between McGrady and LeBron James in 2003. In Orlando&rsquo;s overtime win, T-Mac had 41 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds while LeBron had 34 points and 6 assists. From that point on, I was hooked.
Spencer Davies: The first memory of basketball I have is watching my old Superstars VHS Tape, along with NBA Jam Session from the early and mid-90s. I absolutely felt the energy that Shawn Kemp and Larry Johnson radiated with their thunderous dunks and blocks. When they screamed after a big play, I jumped up with them wanting to be a part of the moment. There were always video games that made me appreciate the sport, but my first hometown memories were of the playoff Cleveland Cavaliers with Kemp, Derek Anderson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wesley Person and Brevin Knight. If we want to talk about favorite players as I started to love the game in the late &lsquo;90s, it goes Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady in that order. Of course, when LeBron came along, my attachment to the league grew even further. I was also a sucker to watch Josh Smith jump all over the building wherever he played (and I even met him in 2009 in Atlanta). There&rsquo;s so much more I could get into, but I&rsquo;d take up the whole page!
Ethan Fuller: How could you not get fired up when Kevin Garnett stepped on the court? I grew up watching him talk at the basketball hoop in front of roaring crowds before every Boston Celtics game. Garnett never took a night off from his unrelenting, fierce energy. He was a unique type of leader in the way he consistently channeled his voice into a positive impact -- and he was a pretty legendary individual player too.
Moke Hamilton: Easily Patrick Ewing. I am the son of Jamaican immigrants, and I grew up in the New York City metropolitan area during Ewing&rsquo;s prime. Some of my fondest memories as a child involve watching basketball with my dad and my brothers, so this one, for me, is easy. As much as Ewing, and those Knicks made me love basketball, Michael Jordan made me hate it (laughs). Man, even though it was a long time ago, 1994 is still fresh in the minds of Knicks fans everywhere. I can relate.
Chris Sheridan: Julius Erving and the red, white and blue basketball-playing New York Nets, who were on tape-delay after the Knicks when I was a kid growing up and were always worth waiting until 10:30 p.m. to watch.
Drew Maresca: The New York Knicks of the 1990s. The swag was on an entirely different level &mdash; fresh haircuts, scrappy (to say the least) play and a relentless home crowd. I know Jordan owned the '90s, but the Knicks&rsquo; us-versus-the-world mentality was all consuming for mostly everyone in the tri-state area.
Evan Sidery: It has to be my hometown Indiana Pacers during the Reggie Miller era. In Indiana, basketball is king. Reggie Miller ruled the entire state. It&rsquo;s still shocking that there&rsquo;s not a Miller statue outside Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Which player or team made you fall in love with basketball? We asked our writers to share their thoughts.

NBA Roundtable: Which player/team made you love basketball?

LeBron James' illustrious NBA career takes on a new light if you look through the lenses of his teammates.
James has shared the court with a diverse cast of NBA players ever since he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2003. Along the way, his teammates have evolved with the NBA game, from bruising bigs to sharpshooting guards.&nbsp;
Below is a ranking of James' best supporting-cast members. There's plenty of room for debate, but it's also worth noting the unique skill sets of each player who cracked the list. James has shown that he can integrate with all sorts of teammates in his 18-year career; many have also stepped up to aid The King when he needed them.
10. Carlos Boozer (2003-04)
Prior to joining the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls, Boozer started his career in Cleveland one year before the franchise drafted James. The tough-nosed big man averaged a double-double in his second season, with a cool 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.
The short stint was highlighted by a monster 32-point, 20-rebound performance against the Seattle SuperSonics. Though it was a short-lived pairing with LeBron, Boozer's time with the Cavs hinted at what would become one of the more underrated careers of the past decade-plus.
9. J.R. Smith (2015-2018)
Smith's notoriety stems from one admittedly mind-numbing play in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals. But it overshadows a rock-solid run in Cleveland as a microwave scorer. The former Knick came over via a three-team trade and averaged 10.5 points per game during his three seasons and change next to James.&nbsp;
His 2018 blunder overshadows some impressive playoff performances. His 20-point outburst against the Warriors in Game 3 of the NBA Finals helped the Cavs get on the course to a championship. Smith also shot a ridiculous 50% from three-point land in the 2016-17 postseason.&nbsp;
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8. Ray Allen (2012-14)

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One of the greatest shooters ever finished off his career with two seasons on the LeBron-led Miami Heat. Allen put up 10.3 points per game in a hyper-sixth-man role, and still canned 39.8% of his triples during that stretch.
Of course, the most memorable moment came in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals. Who could forget Mike Breen's call? "Rebound Bosh, back out to Allen, his three-pointer... BANG!" That clutch bucket rivals any shot ever made by a LeBron-James teammate.
7. Mo Williams (2008-10, 2015-16)
The journeyman stopped for two seasons in Cleveland and instantly became the best scorer behind LeBron James. Williams was electric as a 6-foot-1 point guard, averaging 16.9 points while knocking down 43.2% of his three-point attempts. He dropped two games of 40-plus points in a three-week span during winter of 2009. He was named an All-Star in 2008-09, when he averaged 17.8 points, 4.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 43.6% from deep.
Williams would later return to Cleveland and get an elusive championship during the 2015-16 season. He suited up for 41 games at age 33, starting 14 of those contests.
6. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (2003-2011)
"Big Z" was LeBron's greatest teammate in his original campaign with the Cavaliers. Ilgauskas was a rock in the paint, and he averaged 12.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 589 games over an eight-season span. The 7-foot-3 center played in at least 72 regular-season games during six of those years, and while he wasn't a highlight-reel machine, he consistently battled inside.&nbsp;
Ilgauskas earned an All-Star nod in 2005. That season, he led the league in total offensive rebounds (299) and finished sixth in blocked shots (165). When James left for Miami in 2010, Ilgauskas followed him, playing out his final NBA season with the Heat. This makes the Lithuanian one of the longest-tenured teammates in James' career.
5. Kevin Love (2014-2018)
Cleveland's acquisition of Kevin Love marks the second-biggest trade on a LeBron-led squad. By necessity, Love was never quite the player that obliterated defenses in Minnesota. But he still succeeded as a stretch center, and his career during the mid-2010's might actually be a bit underrated.
Love averaged a cool 17.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game while shooting 37.7% from downtown between 2014 and 2018. He made two All-Star appearances in 2014 and 2017, and towards the end of the run, he really found his footing in Cleveland. Injuries ultimately factored in, as Love played just four postseason games in the 2015 postseason and surpassed 60 regular-season games only twice.
4. Chris Bosh (2010-2014)
Bosh may slot in fourth, but that should not discredit his impact as a member of the Big 3 in Miami. Despite a <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/boshch01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noticeable downturn in usage rate</a>, the steady forward seamlessly transitioned from a featured role in Toronto to a steady glue-guy presence.
Also, he completely altered his game, evolving from an interior scorer to a stretch five. During his final season in Toronto, he attempted just 22 three-pointers (or 0.3 threes per game). From 2010-11 through 2013-14, he attempted 1.2 threes per game. Bosh landed on four All-Star teams in those four years, while averaging 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.&nbsp;
Bosh's coaches and teammates would often describe him as Miami's most important player during that run. Udonis Haslem <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-miami-heat-udonis-haslem-everybody-cant-handle-pressure-of-playing-with-lebron-james" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised Bosh</a> for being the consummate teammate on James Posey's podcast,&nbsp;The Posecast. His willingness to take a back seat to James and Dwyane Wade helped Miami capture those two titles.&nbsp;
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Kyrie Irving was unreal in the 2016 NBA Finals🔥<a href="https://t.co/Ci3u1A4Qqj">pic.twitter.com/Ci3u1A4Qqj</a>
&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1242185554885619715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2020</a></blockquote>

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3. Kyrie Irving (2014-2017)
The signature bucket in Cleveland basketball history might belong to Kyrie Irving. His dagger in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals created ripples across the NBA landscape. But the rising star deserved credit for his overall postseason play that year, when he averaged 24.7 points and 4.6 assists per game while shooting a scorching 44% from long range.&nbsp;
Irving made the 2014-15 All-NBA Third Team in his first year next to James. He averaged 22.4 points and 5.3 assists per game during the three-year span, and it marked the rise of one of the league's best point guards.
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2. Dwyane Wade (2010-2014, 2017-2018)
LeBron and D-Wade teamed up right as the longtime Miami Heat superstar reached the latter stages of his prime. But Wade still averaged 22.2 points, 4.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds per contest across four years while winning his second and third championships with the franchise. He tossed in some crucial playoff performances, such as Game 5 of the 2012 East Semis, when Wade scored 41 points to help down the rival Indiana Pacers.
The face of the Heat earned All-NBA recognition in three of four seasons with James in Miami. But don't forget about Wade's second stint as a partner in crime, either. Though it only lasted 46 games, the duo paired up again in Cleveland during the 2017-18 season.
1. Anthony Davis (2019-present)
Some will dock Davis among LeBron James teammates because of his lack of longevity. But Davis is batting 1.000 in terms of rings, and in a vacuum, is the best player that has ever shared the court with James. He's the only teammate who was also the consensus best player at his position.
The Brow landed on the All-NBA and All-Defensive First Teams last season while averaging 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He even edged out LeBron (27.7 PPG to 27.6) in postseason per-game scoring. With only one season under his belt, Davis has the highest MVP ranking (sixth) in James teammate history. He's a transcendent big man whose run with the King has only just taken off.&nbsp;

LeBron James has teamed up with some of basketball's best over the past decade. Ethan Fuller ranks his top running mates.