Philadelphia 76ers

Brendan Malone, whose coaching career spanned six decades, is the recipient of the 2023 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced today.
&ldquo;Brendan Malone has been a name synonymous with NBA success for many decades,&rdquo; said Rick Carlisle, Indiana Pacers head coach and NBCA president. &ldquo;He's helped develop players and young coaches, and been a multiple NBA champion on Chuck Daly's Detroit coaching staff in 1989 and 1990. Congrats to Coach Malone on this prestigious recognition.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I want to thank the National Basketball Coaches Association for this award,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Tex Winter was a man I got to know and respect. I also want to thank all of the head coaches that I enjoyed working with during my 29-year career in the NBA, in particular Hubie Brown who brought me into the league; Chuck Daly and our two championships; the Van Gundys, Stan and Jeff, and Don Chaney. Lastly, I want to thank my wife Maureen and our six children for sharing my journey.&rdquo;
Wetting his whistle with a few years of coaching CYO basketball, Malone began his coaching career in 1967 at the legendary Power Memorial Academy in New York City where he won three city championships and three Coach of the Year awards.
He then moved to the college ranks in 1976 as an assistant coach at Fordham, then Yale, and then Syracuse. At Syracuse, the Orange went to the NCAA Tournament four times. Malone was a Syracuse assistant for the first five years of the Big East. He left Syracuse to become head coach at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 1984.
While at URI in 1986, Hubie Brown recruited Malone to join him as an assistant for the New York Knicks, the beginning of his 29-year NBA career. Malone had three different tours with the Knicks, the most notable of which was the four years with head coach Jeff Van Gundy. From 1996 to 2000, the Knicks went 177-119 with two Eastern Conference Finals appearances, as well as a trip to the 1999 NBA Finals.
Malone was an assistant coach for Stan Van Gundy for five years (2007 to 2012) in Orlando. The Magic won 50-plus games four straight years, went to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and to the 2009 NBA Finals.
Malone was also an assistant coach for Bob Hill and Rick Pitino in New York, Don Chaney in both Detroit and New York, Isiah Thomas in Indiana, Paul Silas in Cleveland and Stan Van Gundy in Detroit. He was also a scout for the Detroit Pistons.&nbsp;
But it was in Detroit with Chuck Daly that Malone made his name, orchestrating the Jordan Rules defense that helped propel the Pistons to back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.
Malone was the first head coach of the Toronto Raptors in 1995-96 and also served as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for 18 games in 2004-05.
In 27 seasons of NBA coaching, teams that Malone coached went to the playoffs 20 times, to the Conference Finals seven times, and to the NBA Finals four times, winning the title twice. His teams compiled a 1165-1001 record (.538).
Brendan and his son, Michael, who is the head coach of the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, are the only father-son coaching duo to have both won an NBA championship.
&ldquo;I want to thank the NBCA Selection Committee for acknowledging my father&rsquo;s impact and career in the NBA,&rdquo; Michael Malone said. &ldquo;His work ethic, his love of the game, and his passion for teaching were the foundation of my coaching career. This is a well-deserved honor and I feel very fortunate to be a part of this celebration.&rdquo;
Brendan Malone was enshrined in the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1997, he was inducted into the Basketball Old-Timers of America Hall of Fame (which recognizes and honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to New York City basketball). He is a 2017 enshrinee in the Power Memorial Academy Hall of Fame.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Assistant coaches generally operate behind the scenes and almost never receive enough public recognition for their team&rsquo;s success. However, any head coach will tell you that they are an indispensable part of the team equation,&rdquo; said David Fogel, NBCA Executive Director and General Counsel. &ldquo;Coach Malone&rsquo;s contributions to the accomplishments of his teams are well known inside the NBA and his contributions to the game continue through his son Michael&rsquo;s tremendous success. Congratulations to Brendan on this well-deserved honor.&rdquo;
The NBCA Tex Winter Lifetime Impact Award honors the tremendous achievements and commitment of Hall-of-Famer Tex Winter, who set a standard of innovation, integrity, competitive excellence, loyalty, and tireless promotion of NBA basketball throughout the course of his outstanding NBA coaching career.
The award is selected annually by the NBCA Selection Committee, comprised of some of the most respected coaches and executives in the game, including Rick Adelman, Hubie Brown, Doug Collins, Wayne Embry, Danny Ferry, Mike Fratello, George Karl, Doc Rivers, Rod Thorn and Lenny Wilkens.
This year&rsquo;s nominees included assistant coaches Bob Beyer, Dan Burke, Jeff Bzdelik, Gordon Chiesa, Carroll Dawson, Hank Egan, Jim Eyen, Brian Hill, Jim Lynam, Bob McAdoo, Brendan Suhr and Bob Weiss.
Prior recipients of this award are Ron Adams (2022), Dick Helm (2021), Bill Bertka (2019), Tim Grgurich (2018), Ron Rothstein (2017) and Phil Johnson (2016).

Brendan Malone is the recipient of the 2023 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award, the NBCA announced today.

Brendan Malone given Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award

Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic now knows how Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid felt during two previous NBA award seasons.
Second in the MVP race &mdash; but only second-team All-NBA.
Embiid&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mvp-joel-embiid-philadelphia-76ers-f7a108fd3c0ce1b42c1433c0beda275d">&mdash; the newly crowned MVP &mdash;</a>&nbsp;headlined the All-NBA team unveiled Wednesday night. He was the first-team center, while Jokic was the second-team pick at that position. It was a reversal of the results from 2021 and 2022, when Jokic was MVP over Embiid, who then had to settle for the second-team All-NBA center spot.
And this should be the final time such a quirk happens. Starting next year, the All-NBA team will no longer be broken down by position &mdash; meaning the presumed second-best player in the NBA one season, such as Embiid in 2021 and 2022 and Jokic now, will not have to be relegated to second-team anything.
Joining Embiid on the first team were Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo at forward, and Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at guard.
On the second team along with Jokic were Miami&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler and Boston&rsquo;s Jaylen Brown at forward, and Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry and Cleveland&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell at guard.
The third team center was Sacramento&rsquo;s Domantas Sabonis, with the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; LeBron James &mdash; now a 19-time selection, extending his record &mdash; and New York&rsquo;s Julius Randle getting the forward spots and Sacramento&rsquo;s De&rsquo;Aaron Fox and Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard the guard selections.
Omitted this year after making it last year: first-teamer Devin Booker; second-teamers Ja Morant, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan; and third-teamers Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Paul, Trae Young and Pascal Siakam.
James is a 13-time first-team, three-time second-team and now three-time third-team pick. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were all 15-time selections, tied for the second-most in NBA history.
The picks were made by a panel of 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the NBA.
Antetokounmpo was the only unanimous selection this season as a first-teamer. Tatum got 92 first-team votes, Embiid got 87, Gilgeous-Alexander got 63 and Doncic got 60.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Brown, Sabonis and Fox all made All-NBA for the first time. Embiid was first-team for the first time, while Butler made the second team for the first time after four appearances on the third team.
The league has utilized the current format of picking three All-NBA teams, by position &mdash; two guards, two forwards, one center on each &mdash; since 1989. From 1956 through 1988, there were two teams picked by position; from 1947 through 1955 there were two teams picked, but with no regard for position.
More often than not, the system works without a glitch. The top finalists for MVP typically have found their way onto the All-NBA first team.
But there have been notable exceptions &mdash; often involving centers, who are vying for just the one All-NBA first-team spot instead of the two that have been available to guards and forwards.
Embiid was second in the MVP race but only second-team All-NBA in the most recent two seasons. Other examples:
&mdash; 1994-95, MVP David Robinson got the first-team nod and runner-up Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal wound up as the second-team center pick.
&mdash; 1993-94, Hakeem Olajuwon won MVP and was first-team at center, while Robinson was No. 2 in the MVP race and on the second team.
&mdash; 1976-77, Bill Walton was No. 2 in the MVP race, then second-team All-NBA behind MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
&mdash; 1975-76, Bob McAdoo was second in the MVP race and didn&rsquo;t even make All-NBA, with the center spots that season going to MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and third-place finisher Dave Cowens.
There have also been some split votes, albeit none under the current voting methods, where the MVP somehow didn&rsquo;t make the All-NBA first team. It happened to Bill Russell in 1958, 1961 and 1962, and then to Cowens in 1973.

The All-NBA teams were announced on Wednesday evening, and the First Team was headlined by MVP Joel Embiid.

MVP Embiid leads All-NBA 1st team; runner-up Jokic lands on 2nd team

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid made his closing argument for MVP votes and all but wrapped up the NBA scoring title, scoring 41 points while adding 20 rebounds and four assists to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 133-120 victory Saturday over the Indiana Pacers.
Embiid shot 14 for 17 from the floor, went 11 of 15 from the foul line and made both his 3-point attempts in a game that Philadelphia (50-31) needed to win to remain alive in the hunt for the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. It was the first time this season that an NBA player scored 40 or more points and had 20 or more rebounds in a game. It was the third time in Embiid's career it has happened &mdash; with all three times coming against the Pacers.
&ldquo;I've always said that every single night, I want to dominate,&rdquo; Embiid said. &ldquo;If you are dominating, things can show up in a lot of different ways &mdash; whether it is offensively or defensively. Sometimes, the numbers don't show it. But it's good, I guess.&rdquo;
Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said: &ldquo;It's methodical and historical. Whatever the calls you want to put on it, it's what's he's been."
James Harden had 22 points and 14 assists for Philadelphia, who also got double-digit point performances from Tobias Harris (18), Tyrese Maxey (18) and Danny Green (15).
&ldquo;We're getting better,&rdquo; Rivers said.
Oshae Brissett scored 20 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 19 for Indiana (25-56), which lost its ninth straight game. The Pacers fell behind by 21 points in the first half, then cut the deficit to five late in the third quarter before Embiid and Harden began to take control of the game.
&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t seen a guy like this in the history of the league who has this kind of power and skill,&rdquo; Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said of Embiid. &ldquo;He's able to score on all three levels effortlessly. He's an amazing player and it will be interesting to see what teams do in the playoffs to try to slow him down.&rdquo;
Embiid is now averaging 30.6 points for the season, which is just ahead of LeBron James&rsquo; 30.3-point-per-game clip for the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant&rsquo;s 30.1 average for the Brooklyn Nets.
But neither James nor Durant will play enough games to qualify for the statistical title; in an 82-game season, 58 games played is the minimum. That means the scoring race comes down to Embiid and Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who would need a miracle finish to grab the scoring crown. The last center to win a scoring title with a more than 30 ppg average was Bob McAdoo, who averaged 31.1 points in 1976-77.
Embiid also has been considered one of main contenders for league MVP, along with Antetokounmpo and Denver's Nikola Jokic. Saturday's game was Embiid's 13th scoring 40 or more points.
The Sixers can move up to the third seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Chicago with a victory over Detroit on Sunday and a Boston loss at Memphis. Otherwise, Philadelphia will face Toronto in the 4-5 matchup in the first round of the postseason tournament.
Embiid said no decision was made about his playing status for Sunday night's game, which takes place at the same time Boston faces Memphis.
&ldquo;I want to, but at the same time it's a back to back and we have to get ready for the playoffs,&rdquo; Embiid said. &ldquo;I want to play because we still need to work on my spacing and chemistry. Whatever we can get out of this last game, it will be good.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Pacers: Indiana guard Malcolm Brogdon was ruled out with lower back soreness while Jalen Smith sat because of left groin soreness. Reserve forward Nate Hinton was ruled out for the final two games because of the NBA's health and safety protocols. &ldquo;He's in a van heading home,&rdquo; coach Rick Carlisle said.
76ers: For the second straight game, Philadelphia inserted veteran guard Danny Green into the starting lineup in the spot normally held by top defender Matisse Thybulle. Thybulle may not be able to play in a possible first-round series in Toronto because of his COVID-19 vaccination status. Canadian rules forbid cross-border travel to anyone not vaccinated; Thybulle has not said publicly whether he is vaccinated. He missed Thursday night's 119-114 road loss to the Raptors and was listed as &ldquo;ineligible to play." ... Guard Georges Niang missed Saturday's game with left knee soreness. Rivers said the move was precautionary. &ldquo;If this was a playoff game, he would be in there,&rdquo; the coach said in his pre-game meeting with the media.
UP NEXT
Pacers: Play at Brooklyn on Sunday to finish their season.
76ers: Host Detroit on Sunday night in regular-season finale.

Joel Embiid makes one last MVP push with 41 points and 20 rebounds in Philadelphia's season finale.

Embiid has 41 points, 20 rebounds as Sixers down Pacers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Steve Kerr stepped outside Chase Center on a gray winter afternoon and stretched both arms out to his sides, lifting his chin as he breathed in the fresh air only a few hundred feet off San Francisco Bay.
A little while later the Warriors coach carefully climbed some steep metal stairs to reach the building's highest vantage point and took in a spectacular view in all directions &mdash; cargo ships in the water, the Bay Bridge beyond and the city skyline.
Kerr has grown to truly appreciate Golden State&rsquo;s arena even with all the emotions and fond memories from the franchise&rsquo;s longtime home of Oracle Arena, a venue long known as one of the most imposing in the NBA because of its deafening crowds. The team relocated ahead of the 2019-20 season then played the first four months of the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 season without fans.
&ldquo;This didn&rsquo;t feel like home for a long time because it coincided with all of our injuries, so you move into Chase, the team is wiped out, we&rsquo;re losing night after night, so the crowd&rsquo;s not into it,&rdquo; Kerr reflected. &ldquo;It was disconcerting. Oracle was familiar."
Kerr is still learning about all the hidden gems of Golden State&rsquo;s 2-year-old arena because he simply hadn&rsquo;t had time to explore the entire building until recently.
That&rsquo;s where the team&rsquo;s director of engineering, Ian McDoom, came into the picture to provide some behind-the-scenes knowledge of the 32-month project.
Now, the Warriors are gradually establishing a home-court advantage with hopes it will one day resemble what they used to have &ldquo;where you&rsquo;re returning to play at home it actually feels like a home game,&rdquo; Draymond Green said.
&ldquo;I think the Bay has always supported their teams no matter where they&rsquo;re located, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Clara,&rdquo; said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, a former college star at Cal in Berkeley. &ldquo;The crowd, when they start going, it&rsquo;s as loud as anywhere in the league. They definitely have a home-court advantage here.&rdquo;
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In two weeks, Chase Center will be home to the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament &mdash; the first major event there other than a concert or NBA game. It will mark the first time since the inaugural 1939 March Madness tournament at Treasure Island that San Francisco is a host.
McDoom is doing regular walkthroughs to make sure everything runs smoothly on college basketball's big stage.
&ldquo;How the arena turned out design-wise, fabulous,&rdquo; he said.
Kerr certainly appreciated seeing the spots that make Chase unique -- art elements at every turn, the concert entrance, music tributes and even a wall featuring the 2015 championship floor featuring hundreds of autographs where he finally found his own name among all the signatures.
At one point, he stopped to admire a large photo of his players hanging in one hallway and instantly returned to that moment seven years ago during his first season as coach when the Warriors captured their first championship in 40 years.
New visitors this March might marvel at the large murals, such as one outside featuring Stephen Curry eating popcorn, mosaics and other distinct art elements.
Kerr said he still misses that raucous, rocking scene from Oracle Arena.
&ldquo;The friendly confines as Ernie Banks used to say, Oracle, that&rsquo;s what it felt like to us,&rdquo; Kerr said. "Between the team&rsquo;s struggles and the pandemic last year, I think it took all the way until now to really feel like this was home. Maybe a month, a couple weeks into the season, we came out of the gates hot and fans were into it, it was like, &lsquo;All right, now this feels like home.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Golden State is gearing up for another playoff run that would be a first in this venue.
As the Warriors prepare for the stretch run, Kerr sometimes takes the team up to the ninth-floor Sky Bar with its picturesque views of the bay for a meeting or film session. The on-site practice facility has no windows.
&ldquo;With every building it takes time to develop a personality,&rdquo; McDoom said, strolling with Kerr along the main concourse level. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just taking that time to develop that personality and create that identity of the arena that thankfully we have a little bit more now.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Sure,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;It takes time.&rdquo;

The Golden State Warriors are finally starting to establish a homecourt advantage at Chase Center.

Warriors finally feel they have homecourt advantage at Chase Center

During halftime of the 2022 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, the NBA honored the legends who are part of 75th-anniversary team.
Following that ceremony, Shaquille O'Neal gave an emotional speech thanking the individuals who helped him become one of the greatest centers in NBA history. He thanked a number of all-time greats including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Magic Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Jerry West and Kobe Bryant.
Here's a transcription of Shaq's moving speech (or you can watch the video below):
"My speech is going to be a little lengthy," O'Neal said. "I'd like to thank Sgt. Phillip Arthur Harrison. He's the guy who told me that one day, I would be here. I was a medium-level, high-level juvenile delinquent. I was always told that I would never, ever, ever make it. He convinced me to do well in school &mdash; doing well in school for me was all Cs. I get all Cs and he takes me to Madison Square Garden, and [I see] Dr. J go baseline and throw it down and the crowd goes crazy. I looked at him and said, 'Sir, this is what I want to be when I grow up.' His exact words were, 'If you listen to me, I'll make you one of the most dominant big men ever.' And he named Bill Russell and he named Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and he named Wilt Chamberlain. And I never knew those names. I knew Dr. J because prior to that, there was a movie called 'The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh' and I watched that. I got in trouble in high school for trying to be like Dr. J. and my father said, 'No, I need you to be a big man.'
"So here comes another big man, and he's 6-foot-9, flashy, hip-hop and has style: Magic Johnson. I wanted to be like Magic Johnson. I want to thank another guy: Mitch Riles. We played in Germany together [as kids] and he was a white guy; he loved [Larry] Bird, I loved Magic, and we used to have seven-game series every day. We used to fight. I'd also like to thank Floyd McMerchy because when I didn't make the varsity team, he helped me. Then, Dale Brown comes along and everyone knows that story, but when I get to San Antonio, that's the guy [who recruited me to LSU]. I'm the best big man in the city and then there's another guy, David Robinson, who comes to town and I go watch him play and I say, 'Oh my God, I'm not that good!' In high school, you know, [we're] 36-0 and I'm averaging 40 and 22, but I see David Robinson and I go, 'Oh my God, I'm not that good.' I wanted to be like Patrick Ewing.
"I wanted to be like all of these guys, and I'm sitting there in the [75th anniversary] photoshoot like, 'Oh my God, there's Dr. J! There's Magic! There's the great Charles Barkley!' Charles taught me how to be ferocious and not give a damn what anybody said. Throw them bows, knock some teeth out! Once I saw Charles do that, I said, 'Okay... it's okay to be like this.' Jerry West helped me become that. When I first came to LA, I'll admit: I was all about my gold chains, I wanted to do movies, I wanted to do rap albums. He did one thing: He sat me down and the lights went off in The Forum and he said, 'Mr. O'Neal, when this is all said and done, you can be up there, and [the jerseys of] all of the greats [lit up]. Or, you could be a bust.' Because Jerry West told me that, I was like, 'You know what? I have big shoes to fill.'
"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar &mdash; I love the man to death, one of the best big men ever. I'm glad he didn't baby me; I'm glad he told me like it was. I read an article one day that still hurts my heart to this day: I'm averaging 29 and I'm doing my thing in LA, and they say, 'Hey, Shaq's one of the greatest big men.' And Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says, 'How great is he? He hasn't won a championship yet.' Instead of crying and complaining, [I got better]. All of those guys made me persevere&nbsp;and helped me get to this point. I'd like to thank the great Dr. Lucille O'Neal...
"I don't really get emotional, but it was a really emotional moment because [there are] all of these guys that are greater than me, and I can't believe I'm sitting next to them. Even when I look at myself play, I was not as good as Hakeem [Olajuwon]. I was not even as good as Chief (Robert Parish). I was not even as good as Bob McAdoo. But for the people who want to say, 'Shaquille O'Neal, you're great,' I didn't do it by myself. I did it with all of these guys, all of my teammates &mdash; Dennis Scott, Penny Hardaway...
"What really saddens me about today is that my father couldn't be there, my sister couldn't be there and my main man Kobe Bryant couldn't be there. That, like, really... Because a lot of people helped me get there, but those three [were big] &mdash; my dad pushing me, my little sister covering for me, and me and Kobe going back-and-forth and making each other great. It was a great moment for me and a great honor, and if I missed you in the thank you's, I apologize... But I want to thank everyone who helped me become who I am. I love you guys and I appreciate you very much."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SHAQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SHAQ</a> delivered a powerful, emotional tribute to all of those who inspired him to become one of the most dominant NBA big men ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBAonTNT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA75?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA75</a> <a href="https://t.co/DzUgKkm0r6">pic.twitter.com/DzUgKkm0r6</a>
&mdash; TurnerSportsPR (@TurnerSportsPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TurnerSportsPR/status/1495557464325984256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

After Shaq finished, Ernie Johnson summed up what everyone was thinking: "Shaq, that's one of the greatest things I've ever heard."
O'Neal finished his career with four NBA championships, three Finals MVP awards, an NBA MVP award, 15 All-Star selections, 13 All-NBA selections, a Rookie of the Year award and two scoring titles. The Hall-of-Famer racked up 28,596 points (10th-most in NBA history), 13,099 rebounds (16th-most) and 2,732 blocks (9th-most) throughout his legendary career.

After the NBA honored the 75th-anniversary team, Shaquille O'Neal shouted out the people who helped him become an all-time great.

Shaq thanks Kareem, Dr. J, Magic, Barkley, more in passionate speech

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 2021-22 NBA MVP race figures to be a dynamic one throughout the regular season. In Las Vegas, five players stand out from the rest with realistic odds to stay in discussions from October through April: Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry. These five categorize into the same group who hold odds under +1000. It&rsquo;s a tier signifying not only their projected individual accolades, but also team success in the upcoming year.
Diving deeper into the numbers, which of these five would be the smartest to wager on as we get closer to the regular-season opener in six weeks? Let&rsquo;s dive into it all below.
LUKA DONCIC: +380
Entering his fourth season, Doncic is head-and-shoulders above the entire pack in MVP odds. Nearly doubling whoever is behind him, there&rsquo;s plenty of buzz about an upcoming leap from Doncic in 2021-22. After averaging 27.7 points, 8.6 assists and 8.0 rebounds on a 58.7% True Shooting percentage, Doncic could be in line to increase those numbers across the board.
Dallas made no splashy moves, unless you consider re-signing Tim Hardaway Jr. and veteran wing Reggie Bullock on a three-year deal as such. Hardaway and Bullock will help Doncic make magic happen, and further the case of why he&rsquo;s such a triple-double threat on a nightly basis. Having adequate floor-spacers and versatile defenders around Doncic makes his job much easier. The Mavericks have those tools at their disposal, plus the obvious wildcard in Kristaps Porzingis. If Porzingis can improve under new head coach Jason Kidd to be a No. 2 option, the burden on Doncic lessens to where he won't wear out late in the season.
If Dallas flirts with a 50-win count, Doncic will stay at the top of MVP odds throughout the season. Doncic stocks for seasonal awards are going to the moon right now, and it shouldn&rsquo;t be a surprise if the Slovenian phenom averages a 30-point triple-double throughout the upcoming campaign. Just for reference, the only player in NBA history to average that historic threshold was Oscar Robertson in 1961-62.
JOEL EMBIID: +700
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_16291047_lg.jpg" alt="" width="524" height="349" />
How the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ben-simmons-sixers-destined-for-a-rare-winwin-breakup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Simmons situation</a> sorts itself out over the next few months will directly coincide with Embiid&rsquo;s MVP candidacy. At this point of his career, Embiid is one of the most dominant bigs in the game. Seemingly taking over games on both ends whenever he pleases, Embiid has mastered the art of modern-day bully ball.
What makes the +700 odds enticing is how Embiid operated without Simmons in the lineup last season. In the nine games Embiid played without Simmons, he averaged 31.6 points and 10.0 rebounds. When Simmons was alongside Embiid for the other 42 outings, Embiid&rsquo;s points average dipped to 27.8. Simmons clogs the painted area for Embiid, who has shown to thrive even with the lack of floor spacing from his young co-star. If Philadelphia trades Simmons for more three-point shooting, Embiid is destined to put up some monster MVP-esque numbers.
Similarly to Doncic, Embiid averaging 30-plus points shouldn&rsquo;t be ruled out. And for centers, it&rsquo;s a truly rare feat. The last big man to average at least 30 points over a full season was Moses Malone in 1981-82. Overall, here&rsquo;s the entire list of bigs to pull of this absurd statistic: Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Bellamy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo and Malone. If Embiid puts his name on the list 40 years later while also piloting the Sixers to an impressive season, he&rsquo;s actually a really solid MVP bet at +700.
KEVIN DURANT: +700
The one factor working against Durant in the MVP discussion, who I think once again proved he&rsquo;s the best player in the NBA during the playoffs, is his age. Nowadays, players over age-30 to win the MVP is a rare occurrence. Since 1990, here&rsquo;s the shortlist for 30 or above MVP winners: Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Steve Nash. Durant is one of the best scorers in the modern era, and he&rsquo;s nowhere close to exiting his prime even after a potential career-altering torn Achilles suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals.
If Durant continues the positive momentum we saw during the Brooklyn Nets&rsquo; playoff run, where he almost singlehandedly defeated the future NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks without James Harden and Kyrie Irving, he&rsquo;s a prime candidate to buck the trend and bring home his second MVP award.
Brooklyn figures to be the best team in the league when it comes to overall season record. If the Nets dominate their competition en route to a 60-plus win campaign, the narrative is there for Durant to claim the top individual accolade in the Association.
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: +800
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_16429436-1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="524" height="349" />
The resume already in place for Antetokounmpo entering his age-27 season is absolutely incredible: NBA champion, Finals MVP, two-time MVP, five-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA member, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player &mdash; the list continues to get longer. Just now entering his prime, Giannis could eventually put together one of the most illustrious careers we&rsquo;ve ever seen in basketball. And with the Bucks reloading to chase back-to-back championships, everything is in place for Antetokounmpo to make a significant push for this year's MVP.
The Bucks and Nets will battle atop the Eastern Conference this season. Whoever ends up finishing as the No. 1 seed could directly correlate to who has the MVP edge between Durant and Antetokounmpo.
From an all-around standpoint, there might not be a better player in the league right now than Giannis. Stuffing the stat sheet with dominant fashion for an elite team will always keep him in the MVP discussion. Over the last three years, Giannis&rsquo; averages are why he&rsquo;s become one of the best players in the NBA today: 28.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.2 blocks, 63.0 TS%.
It&rsquo;s a super risky idea to rule out the Greek Freak in season-long awards. There&rsquo;s a probable outcome where he continues his future Hall-of=Fame trajectory to even higher levels we&rsquo;ve never seen before.
STEPHEN CURRY: +800
Last season&rsquo;s leading scorer finally has a healthy team surrounding him. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors figure to be a factor once again in the loaded Western Conference &mdash; thanks in large part to the long-awaited return of his Splash Brothers compadre Klay Thompson.
If the Warriors can take the leap back to elite status in the West in 2021-22, it will likely be due to Curry going supernova once again. Curry averaged 32.0 points, 5.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals on an incredible 65.5 TS% last season. It shows just how unique Curry is, and why he&rsquo;s changed the way the modern era operates. Curry helped change the game as it is today. In order to topple MVP favorites like Doncic, Embiid, Durant and Antetokounmpo, he will need to repeat that brilliance on an even higher level. It&rsquo;s a tall task to ask of Curry, but doubting his ability to pull it off as he ages is a foolish exercise.
A Golden State bounce-back campaign will keep Curry in the MVP chatter throughout the 2021-22 season.

How do the top-five MVP candidates for the 2021-22 season stack up? Evan Sidery analyzes which favorite is the best bet to wager on.

NBA MVP Odds: Analyzing the top-5 candidates in 2021-22

One week from now, we will know who is playing in the NBA Finals. It appears it will be the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, but we should have learned by now to never count out the resilience of the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
And the Atlanta Hawks? Just ask anyone from Philadelphia or New York whether that team should be underestimated.
This is somewhat uncharted territory for Adam Silver and the NBA, who have grown accustomed (along with all of us) to having all eyes glued to LeBron James or Steph Curry at this point of the season.
Also, our NBA body clocks are saying &ldquo;draft, draft, draft.&rdquo; But due to the pandemic, we've all had to readjust to this slightly different schedule. So the end of the Finals are still quite a ways down the road, the draft and free agency are going to happen at the end of the July and beginning of August, respectively. The Olympics are looking like a walkover for a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-to-join-team-usa-james-harden-to-withdraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loaded Team USA</a>... but we have seen that movie before, and the ending is not always a certainty. FIBA competition usually takes care of that.
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No matter which two teams make the Finals, though, it will be the first time in a long time (or ever) that the Bucks, Clippers, Suns and/or Hawks got that far.
So let&rsquo;s refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory. Or, let&rsquo;s fill in the younger generation on what folks in the four finalists' cities have endured over the years.
PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are one victory away from making the championship round for the first time since 1993, back when Charles Barkley was playing against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. It was the summer before Jordan decided he wanted to change professions and become a Major League baseball player.&nbsp;
The Bulls won Game 1 and Game 2 in that 1993 series, and battled in a classic Game 3 that went three overtimes before the Suns won and chopped the series lead down to 2-1. Chicago won Game 4 at home, but the Suns took Game 5 in Chicago (the format was 2-3-2 at the time) and the series returned to Phoenix for Game 6 on June 20. The Bulls were going for a three-peat under Phil Jackson with a roster that included Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and John Paxson. Barkley was flanked by Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos and Danny Ainge.
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Barkley and Jordan were friendly, but the edge in competitive streak was in favor of Jordan. Back then, fraternization on off days was common, and Barkley and Jordan were fewer than two years removed from being teammates on the original Dream Team. The way the story has been told, Jordan took Barkley out to Majerle&rsquo;s bar on the night of June 19 after everyone traveled, and the drinks flowed freely... except the drink of choice for Jordan was water.
Then, on the night of June 20, the Bulls were ahead by eight entering the fourth quarter, but then went cold. In the first 6:09 of the fourth, the Bulls didn&rsquo;t score. They committed three shot-clock violations in that span, and Phoenix was ahead 98-96 with 14 seconds left. But the Bulls had the ball, and Grant found John Paxson open at the three-point line for a shot that Paxson drilled. Prior to that, all nine of the Bulls&rsquo; fourth-quarter points had been scored by Jordan. Phoenix had the final possession, but Barkley rolled to the basket off the inbounds play and Phoenix did not get the ball to him. Instead, Kevin Johnson attempted a runner from the lane just before the final buzzer, and Grant blocked it. Game over. Bulls 99, Suns 98. And Phoenix has not hosted an NBA Finals game since.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS 
The Bucks are up 2-1 on the Hawks now after Khris Middleton was Mr. Everything last night in Atlanta except for being Mr. Airball, an award that will be retired in honor of Giannis Antetokounmpo for what he has been doing from the free-throw line the past few seasons, but especially this postseason. These teams will be back at it Tuesday night, and hopefully the referees will be briefed, too, on allowing a player shooting a three-point shot to have enough space to land without turning an ankle because an official was too close. Are there enough ace bandages in "The A" to wrap Trae Young tightly enough to give the Hawks a chance to even this series? Or is Milwaukee advancing to the Finals as a fait accompli currently maneuvering speed bumps?
Whatever the case, the Bucks are favored for good reason, and if they make it to the Finals, it&rsquo;ll be the first time it's happened for that franchise since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s sky hook was a lethal weapon. That was back in 1974, before Kareem decided he did not like living in Milwaukee following a 4-3 loss to the Celtics in the Finals and forced a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, a maneuver for which he was never forgiven in the city where Mike Budenholzer now calls the shots. The Bucks last won a title in 1971, and have not been back since despite being led at different times by Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Giannis, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon, among others.
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They dropped four straight in the Conference Finals three years ago against the Toronto Raptors, and they went out in seven games in 2001 against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. All of the sports glory in the state of Wisconsin since then has belonged to Aaron Rodgers and Frank Kaminsky, and all those years of losing have been drowned out by beer, cheese, frozen custard, bratwurst and beer. The last time the Bucks won, the team was a member of the Western Conference and the Brewers were still adapting to the American League following the franchise&rsquo;s move from Seattle, where they were known as the Pilots. Al McGuire and Marquette provided a couple years of glory, but aside from the accomplishments of the Packers, there has not been much to celebrate.
But losing is never permanent unless your favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Bucks are halfway to breaking through the organization's three-and-a-half decades of frustration. So stay tuned.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 
Ahead of a win or go home scenario in Monday's Game 5, Kawhi Leonard is once again unable able to play, and could be more seriously hurt than the franchise has let on. There are reports out there that he needs knee surgery and is upset with the Clippers' medical staff; one would think the league office would order the Clippers to provide some clarity on this matter, since Leonard is a pretty good basketball player whose health is a determining factor in whether Steve Ballmer&rsquo;s team has a snowball&rsquo;s chance in hell of being championship material.
The Clippers have never been to the Finals, before or since relocating to California from Buffalo, spending 1978-1984 in San Diego. They blew 3-1 leads in the conference semifinals in 2020 (to Denver) and 2015 (to Houston), and went out in six games against Oklahoma City in 2014. There is only so much that Paul George can do without his fellow superstar teammate, and if Leonard is truly done and legitimately unhappy in L.A., the offseason unrestricted-free-agency market just got a heck of a lot more interesting.
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Before they were the Clippers, they were the Buffalo Braves and joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970 along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. Their Hall-of-Famers included Bob McAdoo and Ernie DeGregorio, and in one of the most interesting pieces of NBA cameo trivia, they had Moses Malone for a grand total of two games before trading him to Houston for a pair of first-round picks.
In 1975, the franchise made it to the conference semifinals, but were defeated by the Washington Bullets. Since then, the Clippers have a franchise history that everyone in the NBA outside of Minnesota can laugh at. Except Clippers fans, of course. And those poor folks deserve either our pity or our sympathy. But to Clippers fans and Timberwolves fans, we can only say: &ldquo;The Cubs eventually won, okay?&rdquo; Perhaps that will help.&nbsp;
ATLANTA HAWKS 
Dominique Wilkins was a heck of a hooper and had one of the greatest nicknames in the history of professional sports: &ldquo;The Human Highlight Film.&rdquo; But he never appeared in a single NBA Finals game, and his only championship came with Panathinaikos in 1996 when the &ldquo;Greens&rdquo; won the Euroleague championship.
The Hawks franchise has not won a title since 1958 when they were based in St. Louis, and they reached the Finals in 1960 and 1961 only to lose to the Boston Celtics. The closest they came since then was 2015, when they reached the Conference Finals but were swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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The Hawks are closer now than they have ever been, but when your entire team gets outscored by a single player in a single quarter (Khris Middleton had 20 points to the Hawks&rsquo; 17 in the fourth last night), you really have to dig deep for resiliency &ndash; although we would not put anything past Trae Young at this point. At the very least, the Hawks have two games remaining. In the first round, they bounced back from a Game 2 loss in New York and won the next three. Atlanta was down 2-1 against the Sixers last round and gutted out that series in seven games, winning three times on the road. The team has a terrific mix of young and old, and Nate McMillan has worked wonders with these guys.
A victory in Game 4 would turn this into a best-of-3, and we already know that hostile arenas do not faze them. Middleton had the hot hand in Game 3, and who is to say that Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter or Danilo Gallinari cannot be that type of player for Atlanta sometime in the coming week? Count the Hawks out at your own peril. Knicks fans and Sixers fans will tell you not to take them lightly.
We've got a big week ahead of us. Let&rsquo;s hope it brings more good stories than bad.
But the only thing we know for sure is that one of these four franchises will eventually end a very long drought.&nbsp;

Chris Sheridan refreshes everyone's memory and fills in the younger crowd on what folks in the four final teams' cities have endured over the years.

Sheridan: A history lesson is in order as the NBA Finals draw near

Spencer Davies talks to Marvin Williams Sr. about his new book and Marvin Williams Jr.'s entire career (from a father's vantage point).