LEBRON RISES ABOVE THE DRAMA
King James has Lakers overachieving as soap operas unfold around the NBA
Roughly one third of the way into the 2018-19 NBA season, teams and players have begun to separate themselves amid the usual on- and off-court drama.
The soap opera stuff has revolved around Jimmy Butler (from his practice hijinks to his trade to Philadelphia); the annual Golden State Warriors distractions, which this time included words exchanged by stars Kevin Durant and Draymond Green; the unprecedented Markelle Fultz medical saga (again, involving the 76ers, the league’s current kings of zaniness); and the Chicago Bulls circus in these early days of the Jim Boylen era (it’s the old story of a team replacing its laid-back old coach with a taskmaster, only in today’s NBA, the players don’t respond well to that style).
We’ve also observed closely how Kawhi Leonard has adapted to Toronto (quite well, if the standings are any indication) and how Lebron James has done the same in Los Angeles (ditto), and we’ve seen the Sacramento Kings finally right the ship (even though there have been reports of friction between the head coach and management) and longtime Texas powerhouses Houston and San Antonio fall flat on their faces.
Denver, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers have exceeded expectations significantly so far in the West, while nobody near the top in the East has really come out of nowhere.
Boston disappointed early, but has since stabilized, while Washington is still hanging around in the playoff race, despite all of the bickering and chemistry issues that were apparent in November.
And that’s just the early going. There’s much more to come.
Demarcus Cousins is ramping up his rehabilitation and is now on to full-contact G League work, meaning it probably won’t be too long until the Warriors can field a starting lineup comprised entirely of current or former allstars. Yikes.
WHO IS THE TOP DOG?
So, who has been the NBA’S most valuable player through the first third of the campaign?
There are probably five legitimate candidates if you eliminate Stephen Curry from the running (for now) because he’s missed 40 per cent of Golden State’s games: Lebron James: The four-time winner has the Lakers overachieving, with personal statistics as gaudy as ever. He’s been the league’s most dominant singular force (again). Kareem Abdul-jabbar has won the award six times, Michael Jordan five times.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: How can a guy shooting 12 per cent from three-point range be a favourite for MVP? Well, his team has fielded the NBA’S best offence regardless and Giannis makes it all work. He barely misses any of his other shots, grabs 13.3 rebounds a night, hands out 6.0 assists and locks things down on defence. If he ever gets an outside shot, it just won’t be fair for the rest of the league.
Kevin Durant: Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Durant is his pick, after he dropped 51 points on the Raptors. He carried the Warriors in Curry’s absence and remains unguardable.
Kawhi Leonard: The fit hasn’t been seamless, but it’s been pretty darn good. He isn’t quite the Klaw of old defensively, but he’s still elite on that end, and looks as good as ever on offence.
Anthony Davis: Davis loses points for the Pelicans struggling (even though Jrue Holiday has also been great for New Orleans), but any team would love to have him. Davis makes his presence felt whenever he’s on the court.
ROOKIE RACE ALL DONCIC
We said it at the time and it’s even more clear now that a lot of teams made a mistake in passing on Luka Doncic. You don’t dominate the world’s second-best league as a teenager without being very good at basketball.
Yes, the likes of Andrea Bargnani, Darko Milicic and Nikoloz Tskitishvili were European busts, but lots of American prospects have bombed out, as well. Doubting Doncic was foolish and a reminder that even highly paid NBA executives and scouts get things wrong sometimes.
Doncic has been great for the surprising Mavericks, threatening to join an exclusive group of rookies who have averaged at least 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. You might recognize the other names on the list: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Jordan and Grant Hill, all first-ballot hall of famers.
Doncic probably never reaches that level, but he’s clearly the rookie-of-the-year favourite at this point.
That said, young Jaren Jackson Jr. has also turned heads in Memphis, Wendell Carter Jr. is starting to emerge in Chicago, and No. 1 overall selection Deandre Ayton is already a polished offensive player (who happens to be terrible at the other end of the floor).
Guard Collin Sexton is coming along in Cleveland and Hamilton native Shai Gilgeous-alexander of the Los Angeles Clippers is making a strong case for a firstteam all-rookie selection.
AROUND THE RIM
Tristan Thompson, a native of Brampton, Ont., is expected to miss up to a month with a sprained left foot. … Former Vancouver and Memphis Grizzlies star Shareef Abdur-rahim is the new president of the G League, replacing Malcolm Turner, who is Vanderbilt University’s new athletic director. Abdur-rahim was the third pick of the 1996 draft, after Philadelphia took Allen Iverson and Toronto drafted Marcus Camby. He played 12 years in the NBA … The NBA has signed a multiyear partnership with the Stars Group, which runs the Betstars online sportsbook in New Jersey and could eventually operate in Pennsylvania as well. The NBA already has a partnership with MGM International …
The interim Minnesota Vikings offensive co-ordinator is Kevin Stefanski, son of former Raptors executive and current Detroit senior executive Ed Stefanski.